Sarah Jane's Children
by Mystic Lover of the fairytale
Summary: An AU rewrite of the Sarah Jane Adventures. What if Luke had two older siblings? What adventures would they have? Co-written with Scarlet Phlame and betaed by her. Two OC's.
1. Chapter 1

# Family #

**This story is going to be co-written by me and Scarlet Phlame**

* * *

Luke was woken up by the sound of screaming- well, shrieking. Really high pitched shrieks that rang through the house. Then the door to his room burst open, and his older brother Mark came barreling into his room.

Luke had gotten used to this morning ritual. Mark, who was eighteen, had done something to annoy sixteen year old Emily, and was now hiding out in Luke's room while Emily threatened bodily harm or murder as she searched for him.

There was a knock on the door and he went to answer it.

"If that's Emily, don't tell her I'm in here." Mark said, before slipping into the wardrobe. Luke opened the door to Emily, she was wrapped in a pink robe, shampoo dripping from her hair.

"Why do you have shampoo dripping from your hair?" He asked curiously.

Emily smiled. "Ask our brother, by the way, where is he?"

"He told me not to tell." Luke said honestly.

Emily looked thoughtful, then nodded, "Well, if you see him, tell him to watch his back."

Luke's eyes narrowed in confusion, Emily realised her mistake, "It means he needs to be careful." She said.

Luke really didn't understand his older brother and sister. Actually, there were a lot of things he didn't understand.

Mark was eighteen, but sometimes Sarah Jane said he acted like a child, although he drove and had a job, even though he still lived at home.

Emily was sixteen and more reserved and quiet, except when Mark did something to annoy her, which was frequent, but no matter how much they tormented and teased each other, they were never that way towards Luke. They might gently tease him, but never did Mark play a prank on him, and Emily never got exasperated with him the way she did with Mark.

* * *

"So what should we do?" Emily asked. They were in the front room watching tv, Sarah Jane was out on a story an actual non alien story.

"We could go to the park, a couple of my mates are having a game of football, you want to come, Luke?"

Luke looked up from his book. "I don't like football, I fall," he said

"That's cause you haven't had any practise, come on, we'll go out to the garden and I'll give you some pointers."

Luke looked at Emily eyes wide with desperation. He didn't want to practise football. It didn't matter if he practised and practised, he still ended up either flat on his back or face.

"No one wants to play football, let's just go to the mall." Emily said. "Don't you dare complain." She warned Mark, then turned to Luke, "You should go see if Maria wants to come, okay?"

* * *

Half an hour later, they were strolling through the mall. Maria and Emily dragged Luke from one shop to the other while Mark tried to pretend he didn't know them. Finally, he had enough. He grabbed Luke by the wrist, "Look, you two can't hog him, Luke's a boy, he needs to go to some manly stores, not froo froo stores."

"I want to go to the bookstore, and they weren't froo froo stores. They sold shoes and clothes." Luke replied. Mark and Emily weren't listening, both were too busy arguing.

Maria rolled her eyes, "Come on," she said, reaching for Luke's hand. "I'm glad I don't have siblings." She said.

"That's not normal?" Luke asked looking back to where Emily and Mark stood arguing.

"Actually, it is, most siblings argue it's sort of a given." Maria said. She was an only child, but her cousins fought like cats and dogs.

"I don't think we should have left," Luke said worriedly. One of the rules Sarah Jane had was he wasn't supposed to wander away after a trip to the grocery store warehouse ended up with a frantic Sarah Jane, him being paged, and Emily and Mark running about the store and parking lot.

She had been very adamant about that, and while most people would think it was being overly protective, for Luke this was necessary. He was new to life, despite looking thirteen, unknown to anyone except Maria, Sarah Jane, Emily, and Mark. He was barely three weeks old.

Maria tried to reassure him, "I'll text them," she said, pulling out her mobile and sending Emily a quick text.

"They went to the bookstore." Emily said, showing Mark the text. The minute they realised Luke and Maria were gone, they both panicked a tiny bit, because Luke being who he was had the tendency to wander off for even the smallest things and he might unknowingly get into trouble.

They headed towards the bookstore.

* * *

Maria and Luke were headed out of the bookstore when they were stopped by several older kids. There were about six of them, they had shaved heads and tattoos, and the girls sported piercings in places Maria knew she could never get pierced.

"You two got any ciggies?" One of the boys asked, Maria was about to say no, but Luke spoke up.

"Smoking causes cancer, it's been proven." He said seriously.

Maria groaned inwardly.

The others laughed, "What are you, some sort of mini doctor?"

Luke didn't realise they were making fun of them, but Maria did. Before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand, pulling him away, hoping that was it, except it wasn't they followed after them.

"Why do they keep following us?" Luke asked.

"Ignore them." But that was easier said than done, they caught up to them, surrounding them.

"So, mini doctor, what else causes cancer? Want to tell us?" they jeered.

"Leave him alone," Maria snapped, clenching her fists, her eyes narrowing.

"What are you, his Mummy or something?" one of the girls sneered, the others laughed.

Maria looked at Luke, he looked a cross between being confused and upset, he was gripping her hand tightly, eyes widened in confusion as the group of kids insulted and cruelly teased him .

Luke didn't know why every word the other kids said cut through him, none of it was true, but no matter how many times he tried to tell himself that, it still hurt, he didn't even know these kids, but it still hurt.

Maria pushed past them she glanced at Luke, he was unusually quiet, head down, Maria thought she saw a tear, but she couldn't be sure.

"There you are!" Emily and Mark came running towards them. Emily stopped short when she noticed Luke.

"Hey, you all right, what happened?"

"I want to go home." was all Luke said.

Mark and Emily exchanged glances, but nodded.

They headed out of the mall.

* * *

Back home, Mark and Emily sat Luke between them on the sofa.

"Tell us what happened." Mark said.

Luke did from the start, Emily's eyes grew stormy and Mark looked like he wanted to punch those kids.

"Don't tell Mum, she'll only worry, lucky they don't attend your school." Mark said.

"Oh, god, school, I forgot about school," Emily groaned. Luke was going to be an easy target for bullies; smart, but hopelessly naive. Mum described him as having the knowledge of a genius, the innocence of a lamb and social skills of a mayfly (meaning they didn't exist).

They would need to work with him on standing up to bullies, and his social skills.

School started in two weeks.

* * *

*Scarlet Phlame's chapter next*


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hello, y'all! Scarlet Phlame writing to you! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

"Is there something wrong with me?" Luke asked as Mark, Maria, and Emily led him upstairs to the attic, the wood of the stairs under their feet groaning slightly, overrun by the sound of their pounding footsteps. "Was it something I did?"

"Nothing is wrong with you," Maria told him quickly. "We just feel like it's best to have Mr. Smith give you..." she searched for the right words. "advice. On social stuff."

"You mean like social patterns and behavior?"

"I guess, yeah," Maria said.

"Oh, okay," Luke replied, an innocent look on his face.

Emily and Mark glanced at each other slowly.

"Mr. Smith, I need you," Maria said, the first to reach the upstairs attic.

The air was hot and musty, so she cracked open a few windows to let the attic clear out. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and it was moments like these when she desperately wished Sarah Jane had some sort of air conditioning unit.

She didn't notice the shining rock resting on the table right underneath the window.

"Maria," Mr. Smith greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"There's... Well, it's Luke," Emily told him. "We need you to give him advice of some sort. On how to fit in and stuff." she glanced at Mark. "We aren't exactly the best role models ever."

"I'm afraid I have no comprehension of human social patterns," Mr. Smith replied. "Would you like me to call Clyde for you?"

"No, no, it's okay, he's at a family outing anyway," Maria said, sitting down on the steps and resting her chin on her knuckles, knee on elbow. "So what do we do now?"

"We could try and... uh... teach him ourselves," Emily suggested.

"I don't think I'd have the patience," Mark mumbled. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Luke said, although Emily picked up his disappointment.

It was understandable. The world outside was cold and cruel, the exact opposite of what Luke was. Each contradicted each other.

"We could-" Emily's statement was interrupted by Mr. Smith.

"I'm detecting a hostile alien life form on the street, Emily," he said.

"What?" Maria asked, jumping up. "Where?"

"It appears to be located inside the house," Mr. Smith said, displaying a map of Bannerman Road, a red dot pinpointed on where the form was located.

"Which direction?" Luke demanded.

"Towards us," said Mr. Smith.

Luke blinked.

And the red dot vanished.

"What was that?" Maria asked, walking up to the screen.

"It's vanished," Emily said.

"Thanks for telling us that, because we don't have eyes at all and are not capable of seeing things that are screaming at us in the face," Mark said sarcastically.

"I was just trying to help," Emily mumbled.

"Can you find it again?" Luke asked, ignoring the others.

"I am tracing it to-"

The screen cut out and went dark.

"Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith?" Luke called.

There was no answer.

"Oh, not again," Mark groaned. "Seriously?"

"Shush," Luke said.

Mark didn't shush.

"But, really," he continued. "I mean-"

Maria slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I hear it," she finally said.

"Hear what?" Mark asked.

"Hear the noise," Emily said. "Can't you hear it?"

Mark listened.

And heard it.

It was a faint sound, barely there, just a ghost, just a whisper of an actual sound, but it was most certainly there.

"It's getting louder," Maria said carefully, not showing an inch of fear in her voice, although it was written clearly in her expressions.

"Not louder," Luke said. "Closer."

"I'm guessing this is not a good situation," Mark said sarcastically, although fear was evident in his voice.

Emily gently hit him in the arm, eyes wide.

A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"I think..." she froze. "I think it's inside the attic."

And the lights flickered out.

When the lights dimmed on, the first thing they noticed was Emily, curled up in the far corner of the attic, her back to them.

"Emily," Maria said, running to her. "It's all right. I think it's stopped now."

Emily didn't turn 'round.

"Do you think she's okay?" Mark asked nervously.

"She doesn't look okay," Maria snapped back. "I sincerely doubt she is."

"Right," Mark said, turning to Luke. "What do you think that was?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "but I don't think it's gone. I think it's here."

"Emily, Emily, turn around," Maria said.

Emily turned 'round and everyone wished she hadn't.

"You all right?" Mark asked. His feet didn't move.

"You all right?" Emily repeated.

"Oh, copycat. I hate that game," Mark groaned, all signs of tension leaving him. "Well, proves she's back to her normal annoying self."

"Oh, copycat. I hate that game. Well, proves she's back to her normal annoying self," Emily repeated.

"Emily, it's all right, you can stop now," Maria said.

"Emily, it's all right, you can stop now."

"Stop what?" Luke asked, not sure what was going on.

"Stop what?"

"Stop copying us," Maria told him.

"Stop copying us."

"Okay, this is seriously starting to freak me out," Mark said.

"Okay, this is seriously starting to freak me out."

"Do you know what she's doing? Why is she doing that?" Maria yelped.

"Do you know what she's doing? Why is she doing that?"

"She's not doing anything!" Luke told them.

"She's not doing anything!"

"What's wrong with her?" Mark yelled.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Shut up!" Luke yelled. "Just everybody shut up!" This time, there was no echo. "I don't think there's anything wrong with-"

He froze.

"Emily," Emily finished.

"She's repeating us at the same time," Maria said.

"There's got to be some sort of explanation for that," Luke said. "Think, think. When we got up here, what did you do that might've caused this?"

"I didn't do anything," Maria said. "When I got up here. I just called Mr. Smith and..." she froze.

"Did what?" Mark asked.

"Opened the window," she said, her voice filled with dread. "What if it's something that was outside then..."

"Came in here," Luke finished. "But it was from the inside. I heard it. Whatever it was, it was in here to start with."

"What if you opening the window affected something? It's like my Science teacher used to say. Something about variables. Stuff happens when you do stuff to stuff," Mark said.

"You mean an alteration of a-"

"Yeah, thanks, no need for nerd talk," Mark told Luke. "She opened the window and something outside altered something in here."

Luke nodded.

"It could be a plant," Maria said. "A plant that grows super fast. Maybe Sarah Jane had one up here."

"Or a creature that becomes sentient in the sunlight," Luke said. "What was near the window?"

"Nothing," Maria said. She ran over to the table under the window and froze.

"This is... crushed rock," she said, examining a piece. "something was in this rock, and by my opening the window and exposing it to sunlight, something inside it escaped and crushed this rock," she said.

"Okay, creepy much?"

"Okay, creepy much?" Mark asked.

"Mark," Maria said slowly. "I think... she's talking before you."

"What?"

"What?" Mark asked, his eyes widening. "But... she's talking before you!"

"No, she's talking before both of you," Luke told them.

"But I hear her talking before you two!" Maria cried, pointing towards Luke and Mark.

"She's talking before you two!" Mark said.

"Why can't we hear her talking before us, ourselves, do?" Luke asked.

"Just everybody stop talking!" Maria shouted.

"Just make her stop!"

"I don't want- I don't want-"

"Don't yell, you're making it worse!"

"Just shut up! All of you!"

"I said-"

"SHUT UP!" Luke yelled.

Everybody shut up, except for Emily.

"Now, what were we doing before she started talking before us?" Luke asked.

"We were..." Maria said, not really remembering. Her mind was on Emily and whatever alien had got to her.

"We were talking about the origins of the alien," Luke said. "It didn't like that."

"Oh," Maria said.

"That makes a lot of sense," Mark admitted.

"Phew," Luke breathed. "Okay. I need to test something. Everybody, zip it for a few minutes. Don't move a muscle or make a sound."

They sat in silence.

"Okay," Luke whispered. "Now, try tapping your foot on the ground."

They tapped their foot on the ground.

Emily responded.

"Gotcha," Luke said, jumping up. "It's the sound."

"What's the sound?" Mark asked.

"This creature," Luke said. "Whatever it is, can manipulate sound waves. It's taking our voices. For whatever reason, when it's exposed to sunlight, it becomes sentient. The reason it was tapping earlier was because it can only travel via sound waves. It needed to create noise to travel."

"How would it make noise?" Maria asked, "if it doesn't have any physical form except for when it took over Emily?"

"The rock," Luke decided. "When it split open. Mr. Smith. Us talking. It compressed the sound waves and used it to make more energy."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but how do we get it out of Emily?" Mark asked.

"I'm... still figuring that out," Luke admitted.

"Hey, she's stopped," Maria said, pointing to Emily.

"Yeah," Mark said.

"Don't think about it," Luke warned them. "It might be a trick."

"But what if it heard us talking and it left her?" Maria said.

"Just to be on the safe side," Luke said.

"But she's our sister!" Mark cried.

"Yes, and we need to keep ourselves safe right now," Luke told him.

"We don't know how to stop it anyway!" Mark said. "I mean, what the hell?"

"Don't!" Luke yelled, panic and fear written across his face. "Just listen to me!"

The door to the attic flew open.

"Something going on up here?" Sarah Jane asked the group.

* * *

"I don't get it, though," Emily said. "What happened? Why did it leave me?"

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "I think that it was trying to stir up trouble. Frighten us. Trick us into wanting to kill each other. It wanted panic, not logic. I'm guessing it knew that a figure of authority like Sarah Jane would be too hard to crack anyway."

"Good thing we're very logical," Maria said. "All of us. Save for Mark."

"Hey!" Mark said.

"Just kiddin'," Maria told him.

"Do you think it's gone, now?" Luke asked Sarah Jane.

"I don't know," she said. "Some things, you never find out. And maybe that's what's best." she got off the couch and smiled. "Now, let's get you home, Maria. It's nearly dinnertime."

She left the room.

"I think today I learned what fear is," Luke told Mark just as he exited the room.

Mark didn't reply.

* * *

_**'Kay, a little explanation in a nut. This is sort of a playoff of the episode Midnight from Doctor Who. The same creature found on Midnight was here as well. And it's not a creature. It's from one of Sarah Jane's rocks. Specifically the same kind of rock from the planet Midnight. **_

_**Exposed to enough sunlight, it becomes sentient and hostile, but can only travel through telepathic fields and sound waves. Then it can manipulate the voices (sound). **_

_**When humans die, the telepathic fields loosen and the creature may travel to other locations. It takes down its victims by scaring them so they kill each other. **_

_**Also, the creature in Midnight was able to get to the ship because of the engine noise and that was why it stopped, because it was pulling itself towards the ship.**_

_**Yep, I'm a morbid person. Anyway.**_


	3. Chapter 3

# Family 3 #

**This chapter is brought to you by yours truly Mystic Lover, the letter A and the number 10 enjoy**

* * *

"Ready for school?" Sarah Jane asked Emily and Luke Monday morning. Although she was mostly asking Luke, it was his very first day of school and she was worried, of course. Most mothers worry when their children go to school for the first time.

She worried when Mark and Emily started school, but they were five years old, and Luke was starting school at thirteen. Everyone would expect him to be a typical teenager.

"Mum, stop worrying, Luke will be fine, won't you, Luke?" Emily asked, catching the look in her mother's eyes, she knew that look, she and Mark grew up with that look.

"I don't know," Luke said honestly, he was feeling very anxious, even though Mark and Emily both tried to assure him school wasn't that bad, and Emily had reminded him Maria would be there and he would probably make some new friends, but it still didn't stop the anxiety.

* * *

"Here's a map, it'll help you if you get lost.," Emily said, handing Luke a packet of papers. "Your class schedule is also in there, if you have any trouble, try to find me, okay?"

Luke nodded, trying not to panic, he was feeling terribly overwhelmed. What if he said or did something stupid?

Seeing the look in his eyes, Emily hugged him. "It's okay if you're a bit scared, I was on my first day, so was Mark, despite what he might tell you. Anyway, I see Maria." she watched as Luke headed towards their neighbour.

* * *

It would be nice to say the morning went by smoothly, but that would be untrue, the morning went terribly for Luke, while most the teachers seemed to like him, he was the perfect student, quiet, but very knowledgeable, the other kids were under the impression he was either a know it all or teacher's pet. However, there were a few teachers who thought he was being rude when he kept correcting them.

When he was about to correct the teacher again, Clyde poked him. "Just leave it, mate, unless you want detention."

Clyde was an unlikely friend. For one thing, he prided himself on being cool and for him to be friends with someone like Luke who was not cool was unusual, but a trip to the park, a few aliens, and harried explanations formed an unlikely friendship among the five of them.

Gym was next and that was one class Luke had been dreading along with no social skills and life experience, the Bane had also left out balance and coordination when they created Luke.

Today was archery and after he nearly took out three students, the gym teacher, and narrowly missed killing a innocent bird, he was told to sit the class out. Ironically, he was able to figure out how to get the arrow to the target the exact angle and direction, but physically, he couldn't do it.

"You all right?" Maria asked.

Luke nodded. "I'm fine," he said.

Maria was about to say something else when Mr. Thompson interrupted her.

"Jackson! Quit flirting. Smith! get over here!"

Maria gave his hand a quick squeeze.

Mr. Thompson handed Luke the bow and arrow. "Let's give this another go, and try not to kill anyone in the process."

Everyone laughed ,while staying far back. This time he did manage to hit the bottom of the target, the very bottom.

"That was rubbish! A baby could do better." Mr. Thompson snapped.

"Yeah, a blindfolded baby," someone piped up.

"No, they couldn't." Luke said. "Babies can't hold a bow and arrow, so how could a baby do better than me?"

was unused to students contradicting him, he had been in the army and was used to discipline and being respected.

Maria groaned, she knew Luke was not trying to be rude, he didn't understand cliches, slangs, and idioms, and he tended to take things literally. Maria had a feeling if someone told Luke to go jump in the river he probably would.

* * *

"Is detention bad?" Luke asked Maria.

"It isn't good, I've never had it, though." Maria replied.

"Never had what?" Clyde asked, falling in step with them, he didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed the paper from Luke's hand.

"How'd you get detention?" He asked.

Maria grabbed the paper from him. "It wasn't his fault," she defended him, Clyde laughed.

"You know, anyone else and that might be a rubbish excuse, but I actually believe that only Luke could innocently get detention."

"I wonder what Sarah Jane will say," Maria mused.

* * *

When Emily heard Luke got detention she was surprised, "Don't mention it to Mum," she said.

"Will she be angry?" Luke asked, confused.

Emily bit her lip, Mum never got angry with them. Well, except when Mark used one of her alien gadgets for something it wasn't intended to do, and broke it.

"No, but she might be disappointed, so maybe not," she said thoughtfully, Mum would definitely understand that Luke hadn't meant to be rude.

"I don't think you should get detention, it's unfair, I'll talk to your teacher," Emily said, standing up and leaving.

"That might make things worse," Clyde said, "Having your big sister get you out of detention."

"That's bad?" Luke asked Maria.

"Don't listen to Clyde, but you'll have to be more careful, you can't keep having Em get you out of detention," Maria replied.

Luke nodded and stood up, leaving his lunch. He had to find Emily, he didn't want her to get in trouble for trying to get him out of trouble.

He rounded a corner and was suddenly surrounded by four older boys.

"Where you going, Lukeyboy, heard your big sister managed to get you out of detention."

One of them grabbed him by the collar, slamming him against the lockers. "You know,every time Thompson hands out detention, we all have to do our bit and go, but not the teacher's pet," James Martin said, kicking Luke so he fell to the floor.

"It's pathetic. You haven't even been here a day and teachers are already gushing about you, let's see if your sister will come save you."

The hall was empty. Everyone was at lunch and the teachers were in the teachers'-lounge.

No one was coming.

They duct taped his mouth so he wouldn't scream then dragged him to the supply closet. It was dark and hot and stuffy, and he started panicking, trying to scream through the tape, but it came out strangled. The door was shut plunging him into darkness...

* * *

**To be continued by Scarlet**

* * *

_**B/N: I hate middle school...**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Have you seen Luke?" Maria asked Emily, by the time school had ended.

"No," Emily said. "Why? Don't you have the same last class?"

"He must've gotten lost," Maria said dismissively.

"I'll give him a call," Emily said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone.

She waited.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing on the other end.

"You don't think he skipped class?" Maria asked.

"No," Emily said, shaking her head. "He wouldn't do it if he knew it wasn't right. And I'm pretty sure that-"

_Thump thump thump thump_

"Shh," Emily hissed at Maria.

_Thump_

"It's not that thing from yesterday, is it?" Maria whispered.

"I don't think so," Emily said.

_Thump thud thump thump_

"Wait a minute," Maria said. "Is that..."

_Thump thud thud thump_

"Oh, my God," Maria breathed. "That's Morse Code."

"What are they saying?" Emily asked.

"H... E... L... P," she said slowly. "Help! They're calling for help!"

Maria inhaled sharply, then shouted out into the hall.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

This time, instead of calm, slow beats, there was a frantic pounding rhythm to match the beat of Emily's heart.

"There," Maria said, pointing to the supply closet.

Emily opened the door and a figure fell onto her. She nearly screamed when she saw who it was.

"Luke!"

* * *

"Don't tell anyone," he said, wincing.

"Why not?" Emily asked. Maria was up and about, pacing frantically. "Those kids, they could get arrested for that they did!"

"That's the point," Luke said. "I don't want them to know."

"But-" Emily started, frustrated.

"Don't tell anybody," Luke told her hastily. "Please."

He stared her right in the eyes.

"What- oh, fine," Emily groaned.

"Are you mad at me?" Luke asked.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the kids who did this!" Emily nearly shouted.

"Emily's right," Maria said. "I've met nasty, evil aliens who wanted to suck out my brain, but this... this just disgusts me."

"What goes on?" Clyde asked, bursting into the attic. "Maria sent me a text."

"Some kids at school-" Emily started.

"Nothing," Luke said quickly. "School stuff."

"Oh," Clyde said. "I was hoping it was aliens."

* * *

"Looks like Luke's not the only new kid here," Maria told Clyde at lunch the next day. "Did you see that new girl... what's her name, what's her name... Nikki?"

"Yeah," Clyde said. "There's something... funny about her."

"What kind of jokes did she tell you?" Luke asked.

Clyde just shook his head.

"She asked if she could sit with us at lunch, and I said she could," Luke said.

Clyde spit out a forkful of his food.

"Hey, guys!" Nikki said. "I hope it's okay I'm sitting here." she smiled and took the seat next to Luke.

"No!" Clyde said just as Luke said "Okay".

Maria hit Clyde in the arm.

"I really like this new school," Nikki said. "It's a bit fun. Although the mascot doesn't look like a hamster. Is it supposed to be a hamster? I do like hamsters. Hamsters are fun."

Clyde winced.

She took a bit of her sandwich, chewed, and swallowed.

"You know," Nikki said. "I think everyone here is really nice. But the classes are super boring. And you know, you know that gym teacher, what's his name, I think he hates me. It's okay, though, 'cos the feeling's mutual!" she beamed. "I actually think half the things he says don't make any sense."

"Really?" Luke asked, surprised that he wasn't the only person who felt that way about what he said.

"Yeah," Nikki replied. "Ooh, but my favorite subject is art! Art is so much fun. And not just because it's easy, like everyone else says. I think it's hard. Well, only if you're trying. It's easy to paint a line! But I don't want to just paint a line like everyone else. I want to make it mean something. Not just a black scribble."

"I don't understand art," Luke said, shaking his head. "It's a collection of-"

"That's Luke, I'm Clyde, and he doesn't know what he's saying," Clyde interrupted.

"Ha, that's okay," Nikki said. "Do you like art?"

"Me? Heh. Whatever made you think that?" Clyde asked.

"You sound a bit excited," Luke said.

"No, I don't," Clyde said quickly.

"I think you like art," Maria said, turning back to her Science paper. Unlike most students, she actually studied whenever she had the time. The best time being lunch, for her. It left time for after-school "activities".

"Ev'ryone's so racist these days," Nikki suddenly said. "You know, I get the feeling if aliens ever came to Earth, and they didn't want to blow up our brains or smush us into dust, they just wanted to colonize, we'd be all racist all over again. Aliens only this or humans only that."

Maria blinked. Where had that come from?

"Well, that's what I think would happen, if they were real," Nikki said. "Oh, my favorite color is blue, by the way! I don't really know why. It just seems like the first thing I remember. Well, not really blue, just sort of a turquoise blue."

Luke didn't seem to notice anything strange about the way Nikki had talked about aliens and then moved on to gibbering about colors.

And that scared Maria a little.

* * *

"Man, this new girl, Nikki, is weird," Mark said. Everyone had gathered in the attic after school, and were looking through their books.

"You met her too?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she came up to me, started ranting 'bout how she knew you," Mark told him.

"I think she's nice," Luke said.

"Again, you don't know what you're saying," Clyde mumbled.

"She seems pretty smart, actually," Maria admitted. "I mean, I think I've always known that if aliens wanted to colonize here, we'd be racist to them, but I didn't really realize it until she mentioned it."

"Wait, you actually listened to her ranting?" Mark asked. Maria nodded, and he clapped his hands together. "Give this girl an award!"

"I don't understand why you're all being so mean to her, she hasn't done anything wrong," Luke said, picking up his books, leaving the attic, and slamming the door behind him before anyone could stop him or think to stop him.

"We're really not good at this role model thing, are we?" Maria asked, sighing.

* * *

"I think the plan is working so far," Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen told her brother.

"If everything goes to plan, then soon this world's energy will be ours. Minerals. Gold. Water. All of it," he replied.

"Right," Blon said. "Bring them here soon?"

Her brother nodded. "They'll be in for a surprise."

There was a long, long pause.

"Now what do we do?" Blon asked.

"I assume this is the point where we start cackling evilly, and then the screen changes to the protagonists," he replied.


	5. Chapter 5

# Family 5 #

**This chapter is mine **

* * *

After Clyde and Maria went home, Emily and Mark went to find Luke.

He wasn't hard to find, he was in the front room doing his homework. "Do you need help?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm nearly done," Luke replied. He looked up, "How come you don't like Nikki?"

It was Mark who answered. "Well, she is a bit strange, you have to admit."

Luke looked upset. "She's nice to me. Except for Maria and Clyde, none of the other kids are nice to me."

Emily sat next to him. "We didn't mean it. It's good you're making friends," she said.

"Right, and I must admit, she is cute, in a kid sister sort of way. Any chance she has a older sister?" Mark joked.

"Shut up, Mark. Anyway, if Nikki wants to sit with us again, she can," Emily said.

The front door opened and Sarah Jane came in. "How was school? There's groceries in the car."

Emily and Mark headed outside.

"School was better, I think I made a friend." Luke said.

Sarah Jane smiled. "You did? That's wonderful, but don't tell them what we do."

"I know, it's a secret," Luke said, heading out to the car.

Sarah Jane watched him leave, she was glad Luke was starting to make friends. When she had asked Emily how Luke's first day had gone, she had told her it wasn't the best, though she didn't go into detail.

"Did you get anything for dinner?" Mark asked as the three of them came in, arms loaded with bags.

"There should be some steaks, and I bought some potatoes. I have an article to write. If anyone calls, take a message," Sarah Jane said, heading towards the attic.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Mark turned to Luke. "What's this I hear about you being locked in the supply closet?"

"You promised you wouldn't tell." Luke looked at Emily.

"I'm sorry, I had to, you could have died. Luke, it was cruel of those kids to do that." Emily said.

"How come Sarah Jane doesn't cook?" Luke asked. To his confusion, Mark and Emily started laughing.

"Mum can't cook, it's not one of her strong points. " Mark said.

"You know, we need to talk to Mum about you calling her Sarah Jane. You should call her Mum," Emily said, despite Sarah Jane being the only mother figure Luke knew, not once in the two weeks since his "adoption" did Luke call her Mum.

They would have to fix that.

* * *

"Morning." Nikki dropped into the seat next to Luke.

"Hello." Luke looked up from his book.

"What's that you're reading?" Nikki asked, Luke showed her the title.

"That's a bit advanced for someone like you, don't you think?" Nikki asked. Luke frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean, someone like me?"

Nikki backtracked. "What I mean is, someone like us. It was a slip of the tongue, that's all." She giggled.

"Oh, okay," Luke said, accepting that excuse, he didn't see the cold smile that flashed across Nikki's face.

Across the room, Maria did, and she didn't like it.

* * *

"What do we know about Nikki?" Maria asked at lunch. It was a nice day, so they were outside.

"She's new, that's all anyone knows about her. That, and Luke seems to like her," Emily said.

"I know this might sound mean, but I don't trust her. I have this weird feeling around her," Maria said, she looked at Emily and Clyde.

"Actually, I do too, I just didn't want to say anything, but if we all three think Nikki is no good, don't you think Luke might realise that?" Clyde asked.

Emily shook her head, "Not really, Luke is too trusting. I mean, it's not his fault, of course, but that's just how he is."

"So we'll keep an eye on Nikki, see if she does anything suspicious," Maria said.

The others all agreed.

When Luke approached them he was alone, Nikki was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Nikki?" Clyde asked.

"She said she needed to do something, but it wouldn't take long," Luke told them, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Luke, I wouldn't spend too much time with Nikki. I mean, we don't know anything about her," Emily said.

"But she's nice to me, and you said it was good I was making friends," Luke said, confused by their reactions.

"I know, just be careful, that's all," Emily replied.

Luke didn't understand why the others didn't like Nikki. Maybe it was because she acted strange, but that couldn't be the reason, since Mark and Clyde both told him sometimes he acted strange, but they still liked him. Most of the other kids seemed to like Nikki, and to Luke, that was strange, but maybe it was because Nikki was a girl.

He looked up, Emily and Maria were looking at a magazine, while Clyde was balancing a football on one finger, trying to impress Emily.

That was another thing Luke didn't understand. Emily already thought of Maria and Clyde as friends, he didn't know why Clyde wanted to impress her. When he asked Maria she had said something along the line of some boys being silly, which Luke didn't understand.

That was why he liked Nikki. She never made him feel stupid.

* * *

*Scarlett next**


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, guys!" Nikki said, bouncing around the lunch table. "How's your day going?"

"Fine," Luke said.

"My day's going great," Nikki told him. "Except my mom packed me tuna." she crinkled her nose up. "I absolutely hate tuna! It's evil. And it wants to murder my taste buds."

"Tuna has no comprehension of hatred or evil," Luke told her. Nikki laughed.

"I like you, you're funny," she said.

"Is funny good?" Luke asked.

"Not that kind of funny," Clyde mumbled.

Luke scratched his head. "Well, that's confusing."

Maria laughed. "Just ignore him."

"Who's your favorite evil villain?" Nikki suddenly asked. "I really like Regina from Once Upon A Time. She got forced to do something she didn't want to do and had to become evil."

Maria blinked. Aliens? Evil villains?

...Seriously?

But she didn't want to be rude, so she responded. "I like Jafar," she said. "And his song, 'You're Only Second Rate'."

"Who's Jafar?" Luke asked.

"An evil Disney villain from a cartoon," Maria said.

"Is being evil good?" Luke wondered.

"No, definitely not," Clyde said.

"Then why would you like evil characters?" there it was, the cute scrunch-upped face.

"Because they're entertaining," Maria told him.

"They get the best lines," Clyde added.

"But they're still evil, and that's why everybody hates them!" Nikki said cheerfully.

"Uh, yeah," Maria said. "I guess."

They ate in remarkable silence for a few more minutes, before Nikki spoke up again.

"I'm so tired," she groaned. "Don't you think school is just so tiring?"

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "But school is good."

Nikki looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well, if we didn't go to school, where would we meet all our friends? If we didn't go to school, if we stayed at home all the time, we'd never meet anyone," Luke said. "Neighbors, maybe, but never anyone who lives far." He shrugged. "That's what I imagine, anyway."

"I guess," Nikki said. She seemed a little quiet now, leaning forward, her features hidden by her dark hair.

Later that day, Luke's science teacher asked him and another student to help him with a "theory".

* * *

_**A/N: The following takes place after the events of Revenge of the Slitheen**_.

* * *

"Hey, guys, can you help me with my homework?" Nikki asked the group shyly.

"Let Luke help you," Maria suggested, figuring it might be good for Luke to interact with someone his age on his own for once. Especially in a subject he was substantially good in. "He gets the best marks."

She glanced at Luke.

"If it's all right with you," she said.

"No, it's fine," Luke reassured her.

"Okay, I'll see you later," she told him, smiling in his direction and leaving.

"Luke," Nikki said. "Sorry. I think I left my pencil in the Science Lab. Could you go get it?"

"Okay," Luke said.

"Do you know what happened to the Science teacher?" Nikki suddenly asked. "Nobody's seen him. They all say he went on a vacay."

Luke shrugged, hiding his nervousness. He didn't suspect anything of Nikki, the subject just made Sarah Jane uncomfortable. And if it made her uncomfortable, it made him uncomfortable.

He trudged over to the desk to get Nikki's pencil, wondering why she wanted him to get it for her.

Luke never saw what hit him.

* * *

Nikki, otherwise known as Blon, dragged Luke's limp body down the hallway.

How _thick_ was she? He was her age and she was in no hurry to kill and skin him.

It was sad, their true intentions. Befriend Sarah Jane's son, then snatch him when he didn't see them coming. Skin him. Wear his skin. Steal alien artifacts of energy from Sarah Jane. They'd seen her power and they knew that the weapons Sarah Jane heralded could end the world.

And that was precisely what they were planning to do.

"Got him," Blon said, dumping him in the corner of the room.

"Well, what do you want me to do with that?" her brother, Jor Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen asked.

"You skin him," Blon said.

"You caught him, so you skin him!" Jor said.

"I'm... squeamish," Blon said. "And you hate him more."

"Squeamish? Slitheen are not squeamish!" Jor practically yelled.

"Well... I don't know how to," Blon told him. "I mean it! Where does the zip come from, anyway?"

Jor groaned. "I have to do everything myself!" he stalked over to where Luke lay unconscious and-

"Stay back!" Sarah Jane warned, running into the room, a water gun in hand. "We're armed!"

Maria burst into the room as well, followed by Clyde, Maria, and Mark.

"Yeah! We're armed!" Clyde agreed, looking at his weapon. "With vinegar," he added.

"Ooh!" Blon squealed.

"Nikki, you all right?" Maria asked, not realizing Nikki herself was a Slitheen.

"Fine," she said. "What's going on?" She put on her best scared face. "I was at the Science lab with Luke and this Slitheen just came out of nowhere and dragged us to this room."

"Nothing, just forget this ever happened," Maria said.

"Wait," Sarah Jane said. "How exactly did you know it was a Slithesn?"

Blon froze. "That's what it called itself."

"So you won't mind if I spray you with this stuff," Clyde said, motioning towards the gun.

Just like that, every trace of fear left Blon's face, replaced by an indifferent expression.

"Oh, all right," she said, picking at a finger casually. "You got me."

"What have you done to Luke?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"He's just knocked out," Blon said, rolling her eyes. "You want to go on? Because I've got a whole list of evil villain cliches I've been itching to use."

"Wh- why?" Emily gasped.

"Uh, you're really going there?" Blon asked, picking at a fingernail. "It's sort of obvious. Might as well tell you now, anyway, since you're not leaving this room." she glared at them, eyes cold and hard. "Ever."

"Luke," Jor continued simply. "The son of Sarah Jane. We were planning to use him to steal your alien artifacts," he said. "Imagine- all that power! Such a simple plan."

"Nikki," Maria said. "Think about what you're doing. You don't know what you're doing."

"Sorry, I thought we were talking about me, not you," Blon huffed.

"Give Luke back!" Sarah Jane shouted.

Blon froze. Jor looked unshaken.

"Nah," Jor said. "Don't think we will."

"Y-yeah," Blon said, clearing her voice. "Unless you give us access to Mr. Smith's data banks."

"I told him not to tell her about it," Sarah Jane mumbled.

"He didn't tell us," Jor said. "We've done research, Sarah Jane."

"You two, you're just troublemaking kids!" Sarah Jane shouted. "You have no real motive, except to wreck and destroy everything that crosses your path!"

"Ten out of ten for observation," Blon said.

"Says the grapefruit," Clyde mumbled.

"I," Blon huffed. "Am no grapefruit!"

"Oh, you so are," Maria said.

"Hang on..." Sarah Jane said suddenly. "You two, go on! Keep doing what you're doing!" she said, the best cheerful look she could muster displayed on her face.

"Sarah Jane?" Mark asked.

"You two kids, you're absolutely amazing," Sarah Jane said. "Why, I bet you hold the fate of the universe in your hands!"

Blon fidgeted.

"She's gone mad," Emily said.

"Yes, go on, you're doing incredible," Sarah Jane said.

"You're not going to trick us," Jor said huffily.

"Oh, no, of course I'm not going to _trick_ you," Sarah Jane said.

"Nothing personal," Blon told them slowly.

"Wasn't that a Disney quote...?" Mark wondered.

"Nope!" Blon said quickly.

"Yeah, pretty sure that that's a Disney quote," Emily said.

"Just shut up," Blon huffed. "Or I'll shoot him." she held up a handgun and pointed it right at Luke. All three flinched.

"Don't!" Sarah Jane yelled, holding up her water gun full of vinegar. "Or else I'll use this!"

Blon cocked the gun.

Maria, startled, pulled the trigger on her own gun and sprayed Blon in the face with vinegar.

Blon blinked, then looked down.

"Oh, no, I'm melting, I'm MELLLTIIING!" she wailed.

"She gonna explode?" Mark asked, backing away.

"I'M MELTING! HELP! I'M MEEEEEEEEEELTING-" she froze in the middle of her dramatic shout. "Sorry. I've always wanted to say that." she winked.

"Why aren't you exploding?" Clyde wondered.

"Well, that's something typical you hear people say every day," Blon mumbled. "Actually, I'm in this skin." she motioned towards herself. "So you really can't get me unless you get me to unmask," she smirked. "Sorry."

Nobody noticed Emily, who was inching towards Luke.

She grabbed his arm and yelled.

"NOW!"

Sarah Jane unpocketed something round and metallic, and threw it at Blon and Jor.

They looked at each other, startled, then vanished into thin air.

"Whoa," Clyde said. "What was that?"

"Teleport," Sarah Jane said. "They left them on the desk." she shrugged.

"Can't they reverse it or something?" Emily asked.

"Not anymore," Sarah Jane said, flicking open her sonic lipstick. She nodded at Luke.

"Let's get him home."

* * *

"I sort of feel a little bad for Nikki," Emily said slowly.

"What I don't get, is why Sarah Jane went all crazy-psycho on us," Clyde mumbled.

"It was a distraction," Sarah Jane said. "How I got the teleports." she nodded.

"But how did you know it would work?" Maria asked.

"I've seen it before," Sarah Jane told them. "Not quite literally, but I've seen it before. Those Slitheen, they were just kids. And what did they remind you most of...?"

"Misbehaving children," Emily said, realization struck her like a bullet. "They're misbehaving children."

"I thought Nikki looked a bit jumpy when Sarah Jane started talking," Mark mumbled.

"Oh, I knew it all along," Clyde said. "I was just... umm... I was just... testing you."

Emily hit him in the arm playfully.

Luke slowly walked into the room, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Hi," he greeted them.

"Hey," Sarah Jane said.

"What happened?" Luke asked. "I don't remember."

"Nikki kind of went... psycho killer crazy on us," Clyde said.

Luke looked at them. "Who's Nikki?"

"You mean... you don't remember?" Maria asked.

"Luke, go back up to your room," Sarah Jane. "I'll be up in a minute."

He nodded, staring at them for a moment, confused, then trudged back up the stairs.

"How can he not remember?" Maria wondered.

"He was hit on the head," Mark reminded her. "I guess we didn't realize how hard."

"Well, it does save a lot of explaining," Clyde said after a moment. Sarah Jane nodded.

"I think it's best he doesn't know," she said. "Some things are best forgotten."


	7. Chapter 7

# Family 7 #

* * *

"So, Luke doesn't remember Nikki or anything?" Mark checked. He and Emily turned to Sarah Jane, she nodded in confirmation.

"That's probably a good thing, considering that Nikki basically tried to kill him," Emily shuddered.

"Don't mention that to him, I don't want him to be afraid of making friends," Sarah Jane said.

Since the very first day, Sarah Jane knew her youngest child was going to have trouble fitting in, most children learned social skills from an early age, but Luke was not most children. Luke had been created from synthesized DNA born at the age of thirteen, with the academic knowledge of 10,000 humans, but more or less a blank slate, innocent and naive. He didn't realise that not everyone was trustworthy. Sarah Jane was grateful that Emily, Maria and Clyde looked out for him at school, and at home he also had Mark.

Luke entered the room and the others grew quiet, then, as if on cue, Mark and Emily turned to him, brightly smiling.

"Mark and I were thinking of going out for a hamburger, do you want to come, our treat," Emily offered.

"Okay," Luke said, standing up. "Bye, Sarah Jane."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Mum, he's got to start calling you Mum," he said, as Emily and Luke headed out the door. Sarah Jane nodded. "I'll talk to him tonight."

It wasn't as if Sarah Jane didn't want Luke to call her Mum, she just wasn't sure if he was comfortable with it , though Emily and Mark assured her he was.

* * *

The hamburger place was crowded with families, teenagers, and couples.

"We'll go find a table," Emily said, taking Luke's hand and pushing her way through the throngs of people, until they found a empty table, which still had empty wrappers and cups from the previous occupants. Emily sighed and started cleaning up, placing everything on a tray.

"Stay here, I'm going to throw this away," she said, Luke nodded. A few seconds later, two couples approached the table. They looked to be in their mid twenties.

"Excuse me, kid, could you move, my mates and I want to sit there," one of the guys said.

Emily told him to stay at the seat which meant he wasn't supposed to move Luke shook his head,"I can't."

"Look, kid, there's other seats," The guy said.

"Then you go sit there," Luke replied innocently.

"We always sit here, it's like our spot, get it, kid? So hop it," the guy ordered.

"Oh, leave the poor kid alone," one of the girls said, she slid in the seat across from him. "Sorry about my friend, are you alone, or waiting for someone?"

"Waiting for my brother and sister." Luke said.

"Okay, now, do you think they would mind if we all shared this table?" the girl asked.

"I don't know, my sister's coming now, you could ask her." Luke said.

* * *

Mark and Emily didn't mind sharing a table with the other four older teenagers, while Mark and the other two guys talked about sports and cars, the girls chatted over everything. Luke just sat there, not getting either conversation. They did try to involve him, but he didn't understand sports, and he didn't see the appeal of talking about dresses, or the cutest boy in a boy band.

"What do you like to do, Luke?" David asked during a lull, Emily and Mark exchanged glances, asking Luke a simple question was never simple. He never just gave quick answers, they were longer than they had to be sometimes.

"Reading," Luke said. He was about to say something else, when Mark shook his head slightly.

"So, Luke, do you like sports?" Jon asked.

"No," Luke said.

The two guys kept peppering him with questions. What was his favorite movie as a child? Did he have a favourite toy? How come he didn't look like Mark and Emily?

Once they found out he was adopted, where did he live before? What were his other foster families like?

The questions went on and on, and Luke was growing more and more uncomfortable.

"We should get going," Mark said, noticing Luke's discomfort.

"Yeah, our Mum's waiting for us," Emily replied, standing up.

"We're going outside, Mark," she said, motioning to Luke.

It was growing dark outside and the car park was half full.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked gently. Luke shook his head.

"They asked questions I couldn't answer."

Emily sighed. "All right, when we get home, how about the three of us sit down and go over some things to tell people when they ask difficult questions, okay?"

Luke nodded, just as footsteps approached, and a boy approached them. He was swerving, and his breath smelled like alcohol

"Heey, Em, fancy seeing you here."

He was slurring as he leered at Emily.

Emily's eyes narrowed as she gazed at her ex-boyfriend. They had broken up because he was possessive and needy.

"Em, who's he?" Luke asked.

"Nobody. Let's go back inside," Emily said.

The way was blocked, and the boy pushed Emily against the wall and started kissing her.

Even though Luke didn't understand a lot of things, he could tell Emily didn't like this boy, and she didn't want him kissing her, because she kept trying to push him off.

Luke tried pulling the guy off. "Leave my sister alone!" he, cried but the guy was twice Luke's height and weight, and easily shook him off.

"Bug off, brat!" the boy sneered, backhanding Luke so hard he was knocked to the pavement. He turned his attention back to Emily, but before he could do anymore there was a shout and Mark came running.

"Oi! Leave my sister alone!" he ordered, punching the guy in the face. "And my brother," he added.

* * *

"Oh god, Luke, your face! What's Mum gonna say when she sees you?" Emily groaned, walking home. In the growing darkness they didn't notice the bruise forming near Luke's right eye, but in the light it was noticeable.

Luckily, Sarah Jane was working on something important when they got back, so she had yet to see Luke's face.

"You could cover it up with makeup," Mark suggested.

"Guess I'll have to. Luke, you can't tell Mum what happened, she'll worry," Emily told him.

"I have to lie?" Luke couldn't lie, he didn't have the ability, and the very rare occasions he did lie, it was easy to tell he was. His eyes and facial expressions betrayed him.

"Not exactly, just don't tell Mum every detail, leave some out," Mark said

* * *

The next day was Saturday, and Sarah Jane suggested an outing to the shops.

"As long as we don't spend the day in clothing stores," Mark said. He hated shopping unless it was for something he needed for his car.

"Shut up, Mark."

"Could we go to the bookstore ?" Luke asked.

"Yes, of course," Sarah Jane said. She was looking forward to a calm, alien-free day with her children, and Clyde and Maria.

She really should have known better.

* * *

**Scarlet next**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello, lovely readers out there! *grins and waves* I hope you enjoy this chapter! And please remember to R&R after the show!**_

* * *

"I can't believe you're making me carry all the bags," Mark groaned.

The six of them, Sarah Jane, Mark, Luke, Clyde, Maria and Emily, had just returned from a shopping trip. A rather long one, at that. On and on the girls had gone, glancing at certain dresses and shunning others. To Mark and Clyde, it was noise. Luke wasn't paying any attention, as his mind was on other matters.

And Sarah Jane had a weird feeling like something was wrong. Well, then again, something was always wrong.

Optimistic, huh?

"You're the oldest, so you have to carry the bags," Emily said. "It's your responsibility."

Mark shrugged. "Seeing as I'm not a very responsible guy, I'll just drag your shopping bag on the ground."

"Give me that," Emily snapped, snatching it out of Mark's hand and... petting it? She glared at Mark. "I can't trust you with anything, can I?"

"Nope!" Mark said cheerfully.

Maria just rolled her eyes. "You're being awfully quiet," she said, nudging Luke in the arm with a gentile smile.

Luke flinched slightly from the contact and her smile fell.

"Something the matter?" she asked slowly.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Luke replied quietly.

Maria bit her lip, and paused. She opened her mouth to say something, and suddenly-

SMASH!

The nearest shop to them was where, once, a nice mannequin had been displayed in the window, clad in brownish black boots and a turquoise dress.

Well, not anymore.

Maria might've imagined it was just a trick of the light, but she knew, without a doubt, something had smashed through that glass.

Which wouldn't have unnerved her so much, unless the mannequin in the window had begun to move.

Towards them.

"This is a joke, right?" Emily voiced aloud her thoughts, warily backing away.

The mannequin pursued them.

"No?" Emily squeaked.

"I was hoping someone threw a rock or somethin'," Clyde mumbled.

"I think we should run," Sarah Jane advised. "Yes, let's run."

She grabbed their hands and yanked them out of the crowd. They took off at top speed, running, running, running.

For a mannequin larger than them, it ran remarkably slow, took big, staggering steps.

They were about a block away from the house when it collapsed.

"What should we do with it?" Maria asked, panting.

"Yeah," Emily said. "I don't exactly want to take it home, but we can't leave it here. What if it wakes up or something?"

Sarah Jane scanned the mannequin with her watch and sighed.

"Nothing," she said. "Absolutely nothing! No trace of anything alien."

"What are we going to say, then, when someone finds it?" Luke asked.

"K-9 can take care of it," Sarah Jane said. "Help me lift it up."

"Mark!" Emily said. "Aren't you gonna help?"

Mark smirked.

"I would _love_ to, Emily, but I'm too busy carrying the shopping bags."

* * *

"This sort of thing happened before," Sarah Jane said.

The group was now sitting upstairs in the attic, after they'd finally managed to drag the plastic menace upstairs. Mr. Smith and K-9 had both run a full scan and they'd found nothing. Absolutely nothing!

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"In town. I was in town and shopping, when all of a sudden, plastic mannequins came to life," Sarah Jane explained.

"Okay," Clyde said, shocking himself with how simply he took it. He supposed it was bound to happen, anyway, hanging around Sarah Jane for so long. "Well, I saw it too."

Everyone stared at him.

"I mean, not literally! I wasn't out shopping or anything!" he said quickly. "I... my mum was out shopping."

"Sure," Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"But do you think that's what it is, then? The same aliens as last time?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sarah Jane admitted. "I asked the Doctor about it the last time I saw him- he told me it was the Nestene Consciousness."

"Okay, so a Nestle whatever," Mark said. "What does it do, and how did it make the mannequins of death move?"

"Nestene Consciousness," Sarah Jane corrected.

"Nestle is a candy producing company," K-9 chirped.

"Whatever," Mark said, rolling his eyes.

"It sends out a signal," Sarah Jane told them. "Which can manipulate everything plastic." she paused for a second. "but when it manipulates the objects, it also weaponises them. Giving them guns in their hands and such. And, as you can imagine, that completely wreaked havoc all over London."

"Okay," Clyde said. "I am never touching another mannequin again."

"But, wait," Emily said. "If that thing last night was after us, why didn't it shoot at us or anything?"

"I don't know," Sarah Jane said simply. Then she snapped her fingers, sitting up with realisation. "Maybe... maybe part of the Nestene Consciousness survived, and that small part doesn't have enough power to manipulate a lot of mannequins. That's why only one chased after us."

"But it still doesn't make sense," Luke said. "Why go after us? We've got to have something they want. So what is it?"

"I don't know," Sarah Jane admitted. "But I have a feeling we're going to find out soon enough."

* * *

"I hate school trips," Emily mumbled as the group entered the large building with the rest of the class. "The buses are dirty and in the end, you really don't learn much, save for how hot it can get in old buildings with no AC."

"This is one of the most historic places in London, though," Luke said.

"I don't like it here," Maria said. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Why?" Luke asked.

"Because it's old, and haunted, and the ghosts that live here want to kill us!" Clyde said.

"I don't see anything wrong with it, just because it looks creepy doesn't mean it is creepy," Luke said.

Clyde just shook his head.

They rounded another corner to see Sarah Jane herself, indiscreetly scanning a wall with her Sonic Lipstick.

"Mum! What're you doing here?" Emily asked, blushing.

"Oh," Sarah Jane said. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing!" Clyde said. "Nothing at-"

"School trip," Luke said.

Clyde groaned.

"Nobody told me?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Weeell," Emily said. "The last time we told you you had a field trip, you insisted on coming. And that didn't end well."

Sarah Jane folded her arms. "It ended perfectly well."

"We were kicked out of the museum," Emily said.

"Yeah," Sarah Jane said simply.

"Guys, it's all right," Maria reassured them. "She's got to be here for a reason other than stalk- I mean, _chaperoning_ us, so that reason is probably aliens," she concluded.

"Not aliens," Sarah Jane admitted. "A real job, for once."

"D'ya think the teachers will notice if we sneak off with Sarah Jane?" Clyde wondered.

"Yes, and you'd better hurry back to them," Sarah Jane said, just as a _clink_ was heard from another room.

"What," Maria asked, "was that?"

Before Sarah Jane could stop them, the group had wandered into the room. It was old, with a little fireplace in the corner, and a knight clad in heavy metal armour standing in the corner, watching the room with a cold, dark gaze.

There were little bookshelves spread about in the far corner of the room, and curtains gently swaying on the sides.

"Wow," Clyde managed. "It doesn't look like anybody's been here for years." he picked up one of the books on the shelf and dusted it off."

"Come on, we should get out of here," Luke said.

"Luke's right, now, come on," Sarah Jane told them.

The suit of armour lifted up a metal arm, hitting the wooden door.

And it slammed shut.

"Oh, that is it," Clyde groaned. "There goes every single cliched horror movie "slamming the door shut". How typical!"

"Probably a joke," Maria said, going to unlock the door.

It didn't budge.

"Ohh, it's locked!" Clyde said sarcastically. "Oh, no!" he rolled his eyes. "It's probably someone just mucking about."

"I don't like it in here," Emily told him. "This place creeps me out."

"I don't understand why it's creepy," Luke said, just as the suit of armour lifted up another arm.

"You're kidding," Emily said.

Luke noticed that the suit of armour seemed to start off with slow movement, then gradually increase speed. He remembered that from the last encounter with the moving plastic.

"It starts off slow, then it picks up speed," he told the group. "Try to find a way out."

"Window- but there's a fence down there with sharp spikes," Clyde said. "We'd get squished."

"I'm not dressed for skydiving anyway," Emily teased nervously.

"There's no other exit," Sarah Jane said.

"We're trapped," Maria breathed.

"No kidding, Sherlock," Clyde mumbled.

"Try zapping the door," Emily suggested, but the knight was blocking the exit.

"Can't," Sarah Jane said. "Something- the alien, I'm guessing, is blocking the signal."

The group continued to back away.

"Everyone, as far back as you can go, come on," Sarah Jane said.

"It hasn't got a sword or anything," Clyde pointed out.

"It's got hands," Emily said.

Clyde and the rest of the group scrambled backwards.

Luke, not being as athletic, slowly stumbled to the back of the room. Sarah Jane didn't leave his side for a moment, helping him back.

"Well," Clyde said. "It was sort of nice knowing you guys," he joked. "But... really. We had some times, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Emily told him. "You know, it's a bit of a bummer I've gotta die now. This was a new shirt."

Maria rolled her eyes. She loved how they could all be so _calm_ in the face of death.

And she was proud.

Sarah Jane was closest to Luke, and she tried to shield him with her body, but the knight effortlessly tossed her aside and stepped towards Luke, pressing two hand on his shoulders.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Luke!" Emily yelled.

"Let him go!" Maria shouted.

"What she said!" Clyde said quickly. Truth was, he was terrified for Luke, but he was more terrified of showing he was. So he kept his cool and funny demeanour on, because that always seemed to work best.

"Sarah Jane Smith," Luke breathed.

"What do you want with Luke?" Sarah Jane snapped. "You give him back!"

"He will be unharmed," Luke rasped.

"I've faced aliens before," Sarah Jane said. "I've fought them and beaten them. And always given them a chance." her glare darkened. "Nevertheless, if you do not give me my son back _now_, I will not hesitate to destroy you!"

"I am not making an attempt to harm your son," the alien said.

"Then what do you want?" Sarah Jane snapped.

"Your... help," the alien said.

Sarah Jane stepped back, mildly surprised. "Help with... what, exactly? Who are you, exactly? What planet do you come from?"

"I am a Jelto of the Solennete dimension," the alien said, through Luke. "My ship crashed here."

"Jelto," Sarah Jane repeated. "Might I ask, what exactly is a Jelto?"

"Jelto are higher beings of consciousness," the Jelto said. "They can only communicate through telepathic fields."

"Then how were you able to manipulate that suit of armour? And what about that mannequin, from the shops?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"I am able to manipulate human forms, or forms similar to the outline of a human," the Jelto said. "But I require a nearby distance; my ship crashed, right through the shop window and onto the mannequin."

"Then fix it and go home," Sarah Jane said.

"I cannot," the Jelto told her. "I was able to travel here, by hopping off and on telepathic fields. That is how my ship can be repaired: telepathic fields. I need a being of higher telepathic existence; and a normal human does not qualify for this." there was a pause. "Except for your son."

"Well, you can't have him," Sarah Jane shouted. "You don't get it, he's the only thing I have left, and-"

"My apologies," the Jelto said, slipping out of Luke.

"Luke!"

As if snapped out of a trance, the entire group raced to catch him before he fell to the ground, but he didn't fall. Just sort of stood there, waking up.

"Luke, are you all right?" Sarah Jane asked quickly. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, mum," he said certainly.

Nobody seemed to notice Luke had called Sarah Jane 'mum'.

"Oh, thank God," she said.

"But... we need to help him, don't we?" Luke asked.

"No, we don't," Sarah Jane declared. "We're leaving now."

"Mum..." Luke said. "He needs our help."

"And we don't need to give it to him!" Clyde said.

"But... isn't it what's right?" Luke asked him. "He didn't know what he was doing was wrong. He's from a completely different dimension; he hasn't got a clue as to who to ask or how to go about doing it."

"Luke, you don't understand," Sarah Jane told him.

"But I do," he contradicted her. "He's just like me. Confused. He's in this place, this strange new world, and he needs help. I'm the only one who can give it to him." he pulled out of her grasp and went to stand in front of the suit of armour.

"Luke, you don't have to do this," Sarah Jane said.

"Nobody has to," Luke said. "And that's why we're different. Because we do." he looked right up at the Jelto. "I'll help you," he said. "What do I have to do?"

"The ship is here," the suit of armour said. "You simply need to focus your energy on it."

"I don't see any ship," Clyde said reluctantly.

"They're beings of a higher dimension," Luke explained. "Their ships are created by thoughts. I can see it, he can see it, because of higher telepathic fields."

"Oh," Clyde said, just as the suit of armour collapsed to the floor.

"It's done," Luke said. "It's fixed."

* * *

"Hey," Sarah Jane said, walking into the living room with two mugs in her hand. "I made you a cuppa."

Luke nodded and took a mug. "Mum... why did you get so angry back there?"

"Oh," Sarah Jane said. "It's just... this is so new to me. I wasn't ever expecting it, I was sort of just... thrown into it. And..." she sighed. "Yesterday, I was terrified for you. I suppose I didn't really... understand."

"I think the reason everyone fought back, was because they didn't really... understand," Luke said.

"I've noticed so many people push away things that are different, things they don't understand," Sarah Jane told him. "I guess I sort of forgot that, the other day."

"It's okay," Luke said. "It's really new to me, too."

Sarah Jane offered him a half-hearted smile, just as Maria and Clyde entered the living room.

"Hi, Sarah Jane," Maria offered.

"Do you want to go to the park with us?" Clyde asked. "I know it's late, but-"

"Sure," Luke said. "I'll go get my coat." he stood up from the couch and nodded at Sarah Jane. "Bye, mum."

She smiled. "Bye, Luke."

* * *

_**Wow, that was a long chapter.**_

_**R&R, and we've got Mystic Lover of the fairytale up next! :D**_


	9. Chapter 9

# Family 4.1 #

**This is mine**

* * *

One morning, Luke woke up with a small headache.

It was a weird feeling, because in the month and a half since his "birth", he never got sick. Not even a slight sniffle. The Bane had created their Archetype with perfect health.

He got dressed and went downstairs. Only Emily was present. Mark had already left, and Sarah Jane had left early that morning for the airport, she had to go to Cardiff to see Jack about something.

"Morning," Emily greeted. She looked at him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"My head hurts a little bit," Luke replied.

Emily pushed a plate of toast and eggs over to him. "Sometimes eating helps. By the time we get to school it should be gone," she assured him.

Maria and Clyde were waiting for them at the end of the drive, and the four of them set off. Maria was the first to realise that Luke was being unusually quiet. She hung back as Clyde and Emily walked ahead.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Headache, but Em says it should go away soon," Luke said, hoping she was right.

* * *

The headache didn't go away.

In fact, as the day progressed, it grew worse until it was a tense, throbbing pain that wasn't located to just one area.

There was a sharp pain behind his eyes, a pulsating pain that made it seem like something was squeezing his head in a vice.

It took Ms. Willoughby, the maths teacher, three times to get his attention.

The entire class swiveled to look at him. They weren't used to Luke not paying attention to a maths lesson.

Ms. Willoughby gazed at her best pupil. Normally, she never had to tell Luke off for not paying attention. So when he looked like he was daydreaming, she said something, thinking he was just getting bored.

But that was before she noticed that he looked pale.

"I think you should go see the nurse," she said.

She looked at Maria.

"Maria, could you take Luke to the nurse?"

Maria nodded, and they headed towards the nurse's station.

"It didn't go away," Luke mumbled, closing his eyes against the brightly lit hallway.

Maria took his hand, surprised at how cold it felt. She could feel him trembling.

"Has it got worse?" Maria asked, then realised how stupid that question sounded. Luke didn't answer. His face was drained of all colour and his entire body was rigid with pain.

He turned to Maria eyes dulled with pain.

"Luke?" Maria whispered in horror. "Your nose is bleeding."

She dragged him towards the nearest bathroom, which happened to be the girls. Luckily, it was empty. She pulled him towards the mirror.

Luke realised that Maria was right, he could feel the blood and taste it, the sharp metallic taste. He didn't understand what was going on, and that scared him.

Maria grabbed several paper towels, pressing them against his face.

"I'm gonna call Sarah Jane, okay?" Maria said, digging out her mobile.

"No... not home..." Luke shook his head, wincing from the pain.

"I'll get Em," Maria said, texting the older girl.

* * *

Emily felt her pocket vibrate.

She raised her hand, asking to be excused. The minute she was out in the hall, she pulled her mobile out, and read the text.

It was from Maria. Something about Luke.

She texted back, asking where they were. The reply was first floor.

Emily headed in that direction. When she got closer, she noticed how terribly white Luke looked. Maria seemed to be holding him up.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Don't talk... too loud."

Luke swayed, hanging onto Maria's arm.

"His headache got worse, and his nose started bleeding," Maria informed Emily.

"I'll text Mark to pick us up, I don't think Luke should walk home." Emily pulled out her mobile.

Half an hour later, Mark arrived at the school. By that time, Maria and Emily were supporting Luke up.

He wasn't white, anymore, he was greyish green colour. Mark didn't ask what was going on, he could tell Luke was sick.

"I thought Luke couldn't get sick," Mark whispered to Emily as she and Maria helped Luke into the car.

* * *

"Okay, I don't get this. When Mr. Smith scanned Luke after Mum adopted him, he said he can't get sick," Mark said. He and Emily were at the kitchen table.

"Where is Luke, by the way?"

"I told him he should have a lie down, but I don't know if it'll help much." Emily said.

"Maybe we should have Mr. Smith scan him," Mark said thoughtfully.

"Not yet, let him sleep awhile. He looked awful," Emily said. She stood up. "I'm going to check on Luke," she said.

Mark nodded, saying he would get started on tea.

Emily headed upstairs and into the room Mark and Luke shared.

Mark's side was, well, messy. Bed half made, clothes strewn everywhere, books and papers scattered about, and what looked like a mouldy sandwich on the desk.

Emily wrinkled her nose. Luke's side, on the other hand, was a stark contrast, perfectly neat and tidy. Emily sat on the bed.

"Em?" Luke looked at her, shifting slightly.

"I thought you were asleep," Emily said, taking his hand in hers.

"I can't... where's Mum?" Luke asked.

Emily looked at him, surprised. Luke never forgot things, he couldn't forget.

"Mum went to Cardiff, remember? She told us last night," Emily said.

"I feel sick," Luke mumbled.

"I know, you have a headache. I'll get you some aspirin."

Emily was about to stand up when Luke vomited on her skirt.

Most girls would shriek to high heaven if their clothes were thrown up on, and yet Emily just stood up.

"I'm going to send Mark up while I change, okay?" she asked. She tried to sound jokey as she added, "Just to make it fair, you could vomit it on him too."

Luke grabbed her hand. "Don't leave me alone," He pleaded.

"Mark's coming up, it's going to be fine, I promise," Emily said. "Go lie on Mark's bed."

Luke looked confused, but did as he was told. Emily stripped the bed.

"When Mark and I would get sick, Mum always said fresh clean sheets were just as good as medicine."

"Why would that be just as good as medicine?" Luke asked, crawling back into bed.

Emily tucked the covers around him.

"Not literally, it's hard to explain," Emily said. She stood up, Luke was half asleep and didn't seem to notice when she slipped out.

"How is Luke?" Mark asked once she was downstairs.

"Really sick, he threw up. Plus, he didn't remember Mum left," Emily said.

Mark sighed. "I think we should have Mr. Smith scan him. This can't be normal. I mean, with any other kid it would be, but Luke isn't any other kid. He doesn't get sick. He can't get sick."

Emily sighed, wishing Mum was home.

* * *

**Scarlet next**


	10. Chapter 10

_**And I thought my allergies were bad. *cough cough wheat hates me cough cough***_

* * *

"Mr. Smith? I need you," Mark said.

The Zylok responded with the usual blaring fanfare and flashing lights.

"Hello, Mark," the computer greeted.

Emily didn't waste any time. "Luke's sick," she told him.

"I was under the impression that Luke couldn't get sick," Mr. Smith said.

"That's why we need you to scan him," Mark said, rolling his eyes.

"Luke is not in the attic," Mr. Smith said.

"Can't you just... I dunno. Scan him from over here, or something?" Mark asked.

"I require him to be within a certain radius," the computer chirped.

"Oh, great," Mark groaned. "Great, big, supercomputer in the wall, and he needs Luke to be in the same room as him."

Mr. Smith repeated his statement.

"I'll go get him," Mark sighed.

"Don't," Emily interjected, stopping him right in the doorway. "Luke's trying to sleep."

"Does he look like sleep and an aspirin are going to help him much?" Mark asked incredulously.

"No..." Emily said.

"Does he get sick like everyone else does, normally?" Mark asked.

"No," Emily repeated.

"Then the only way to help him is to find out what he's sick with, and how we can find the cure," Mark said. "I'm certainly no doctor- but sleeping isn't going to help a poisoned patient. A cure will. Everybody knows that."

"I'm not everybody," Emily said placidly. "And if you've only noticed that by now, you're dumber than you look."

She ignored the glare Mark gave her.

"All I'm saying is that I'm concerned for him," she said, putting her hands up. "All right, all right, you win. But make it snappy, yeah?"

She leaned against the doorway for five minutes straight, tapping her fingers against the doorway.

_Tap tap tap tap_

_Tap tap tap tap_

_Tap tap tap tap_

_Tap tap tap tap_

When Mark came into view, Emily realized he was carrying Luke up the stairs.

And struggling, too, not to mention.

She quickly ran over to him, helping her brother support Luke's weight.

"What has he been eating?" Mark asked through gritted teeth. "Cement? Bricks?"

"Wrecking balls?" Emily mumbled.

Mark gave her a haunted look. "Do _not_ get me started on those."

The moment they reached the attic, they set Luke down as gently as they could on the sofa, then nearly fell over on top of each other in exhaustion.

"That's it," Mark panted. "Forget 10,000 pound weights. He's heavier."

"Can you... scan him now?" Emily breathed.

"Scanning," Mr. Smith said, monotone.

"Well?" Mark asked after a second or so.

"Luke seems to have been inflicted by some sort of allergen," Mr. Smith reported.

"That's an allergy?" Mark finally asked.

"What's he allergic to?" Emily wondered.

"Dust?" Mark inquired. "Oh, would it suck if he were allergic to dust."

"Mark," Emily said, hitting him on the arm.

"No, but really!" Mark insisted. "Imagine if we were chasing down this great big alien, and all of a sudden, a little dust gets caught up in the air, and Luke-"

"We get it," Emily said.

"Seriously," Mark told her. "It would suck."

"Shh!" Emily shushed him. "Mr. Smith, isn't Luke's system stronger than other kids'? Wouldn't he... not be allergic to most things?" she wondered.

"Luke's immune system is incredibly powerful," Mr. Smith said. "However, from the DNA samplings he gained, certain elements are elements he is susceptible to."

"Huh?" Emily asked. "I don't get it."

"He means that... it's like this," Mark said. "Say you've got a... one of those dart board things."

Emily nodded, visualizing it.

"So there's always that one little dot in the middle that's super hard to hit," Mark said. "But when you do hit it, it scores you tons of points."

"Mark," Emily said, irked. "I hardly thing darts are important right-"

"What Mr. Smith's trying to say is that Luke's less susceptible to most diseases," Mark continued, ignoring her. "because of his stronger immune system."

"I know that," Emily said.

"But even though he's strong against most diseases, there are still some diseases that the immune system didn't cover. And since that system isn't entirely his, the antibodies are confused, and don't know how to fight it, so they're handling it the best way they can," Mark said. "Meaning that he's incredibly susceptible to whatever allergy's got him."

"The bulls-eye," Emily said, hoarsely.

"Yep," Mark said, popping the 'p'.

"Isn't there like... a cure for an allergy?" Emily asked.

Mark looked at her. "Seriously?"

Emily shrugged. "I was just thinkin'..."

"Emily, there is a way to drain it from his system so he recovers," Mr. Smith said.

Emily's face lit up. "Really? How?"

"I'm afraid in order to drain it I will need to know what it is," Mr. Smith told her.

"Do you know what it is?" Emily asked him.

"He will knock four times," Mr. Smith said suddenly.

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"Information, unknown," Mr. Smith said, answering her question.

"What was that?" Emily asked. She turned to Mark. "You heard it too, right?"

"Yeah," Mark said, nodding. "Mr. Smith, what was that?"

"I'm afraid I do not know what you're talking about, Mark," Mr. Smith said.

"With the knock four times thing?" Mark asked.

"Archangel!" Mr. Smith blurted.

"Okay, seriously getting creeped out, right now," Mark mumbled.

"Archangel," Emily mumbled. Then, "Archangel!" she said.

"Isn't that a cell phone network?" Mark wondered.

"ARCHANGEL!" Emily shouted. "CELL PHONES!"

"Oh, boy," Mark said to himself. "This is it. She's flipped."

"No, don't you remember?" Emily asked. "With the Bane! They didn't like cell phones!"

"But Luke's human," Mark said. "He's not a Bane!"

Emily smacked her palm against her forehead. "I know, but there has to be some sort of relation! I mean, Archangel's the biggest phone network in the world. And it was just launched yesterday!"

"But-" Mark said.

"It's interfering with Mr. Smith," Emily pointed out.

"Oh," Mark realized. "Oh, that makes a lot of sense."

"Luke doesn't like it, and Mr. Smith doesn't like it," Emily told him.

"But... I like Mr. Saxon," Mark said. "There's nothing wrong with Mr. Saxon. Maybe we could tell him-"

"I hate politics," Emily mumbled. "Who's Saxon again?"

"You don't know who Harold Saxon is?" Mark nearly shrieked. Emily rubbed her fingers against her forehead.

"Look, all I'm saying is, we're just some kids," Emily told him. "D'ya really think he'll even listen? Besides, what would we say? 'I think your cell phone network is broken, because my supercomputer in the wall and genetically engineered brother don't like it. Oh, yeah, and by the way, the computer's sentient and named Mr. Smith'!"

"Good point," Mark said. "But I still think we should-"

"I don't want to hear it," Emily said hastily. "Mr. Smith, is there some way we could... I dunno. Get rid of Archangel on everybody's phones in Bannerman Road?"

"I regret to inform you that I cannot remove Archangel," Mr. Smith said.

"Darn," Emily said, snapping her fingers.

"However, there is an alternative," Mr. Smith told her.

"Then do it!" Emily nearly shrieked.

"But-"

"DO IT!"

* * *

That day, everyone on Bannerman Road came home to find that their cell phones had exploded.

* * *

_**By the way, I know this isn't remotely related, but I seriously think Martin Fowler is an older version of Tommy Knight (Luke's actor). Go look him up on Google Images. Seriously. No joke.**_


	11. Chapter 11

# Family 1 #

* * *

Emily hung up the phone and turned to Mark.

"That was Mum, she said something came up, and she won't be home for a while."

"Did you tell her Luke was sick?" Mark asked.

"I didn't want to worry her, and the allergen went down, so that's a start," Emily said.

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave him alone while we're at school?" Mark asked.

Emily was about to say something when Luke appeared, pale and unsteady on his feet. Mark caught his arm before he pitched forward, guiding him over to a chair.

"You should be in bed," Emily scolded gently, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand. It was warm, but not as hot as it had been yesterday.

"You're leaving," Luke said, sounding hurt.

"We have school, I'll call every break," Emily promised.

"Me, too," Mark added.

Luke didn't look convinced, but allowed Emily to guide him back upstairs and into bed. Mark and Emily promised to call at their break, before leaving.

The house was quiet after Mark and Emily left. This was the first time ever Luke had been alone, and he didn't like being alone.

He was scared up until today. He had never been alone. First there was Maria, and then he was adopted. Mum had told him one day a few days after his adoption, that the best way to get your mind off something that scared you, was to distract yourself. Take your mind off the fear.

So that's what he did.

By mid-morning, he had read twelve books and watched so many kid's programmes, the plots were starting to get jumbled up. His eyes were starting to get heavy, and he could barely hold his head up.

His eyes were closed before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Nikki smiled to herself as she gazed at the sleeping boy. He was going to be part of her plan, but first she needed to protect him from a bigger enemy called the Archangel network. She sat down, waiting for him to be aware of her presence.

* * *

Maria dropped her tray on the lunch table and sank into a chair.

"I have a headache," she said.

"Weird, so do I," Emily replied, rubbing her temples. "It might be just the stress and worry about Luke."

"Did I hear you two right, you both have headaches?" Clyde asked, joining them.

"You too?" Emily asked. Clyde nodded.

"On the bright side, it got me out of double maths, spent the lesson in the nurse's station."

"Luke had headaches," Emily observed.

"They were more like migraines. You didn't see him, Em, the lights were hurting his eyes," Maria replied. "If this is connected, we're lucky to not be having it as bad as Luke, he was in so much pain."

* * *

Luke wasn't sure if he was awake or still sleeping, but there was a girl sitting on Mark's bed, and it wasn't Maria or Emily.

He had never seen her before. She was small, with short hair. She was very pretty, and she smiled when she saw him.

"Hello, Luke," she said.

Luke struggled to sit up as the girl bounced over to his bed.

"I have a present for you," the girl told him.

Luke looked at her. "Who are you?"

"A friend. My name is Nikki," the girl said. She took his hand, placing a ring on his finger. "This is a biodamper. It'll protect you, but you have to keep it on."

Luke didn't understand. He looked at Nikki, then at the ring.

"Protect me from what?"

Nikki shook her head. "Don't worry," she said, slipping out of the room.

The fear came back when Luke was alone, surrounding him, suffocating him, pressing down on him like a thick blanket. He curled up as small as he could get, reaching for the bear Emily had given him his first night.

Soon he had fallen back asleep. He didn't even hear the phone ring.

* * *

Emily sighed, sliding her phone shut. Luke didn't answer when she called, and that worried her.

She pulled out her mobile again, dialing Mark's number, wincing as another wave of pain hit her head.

Mark answered on the second ring.

"Did you call Luke?" She demanded when he answered.

"What? No, hello, Mark, how are you, how's uni?" Mark teased.

"Shut up, Mark, I called Luke. He didn't answer. What if something happened to him?" Emily asked.

"Em, relax, he's probably just asleep. He is sick, remember? He might not have heard the phone," Mark said, assuring Emily.

Emily couldn't believe she had been so thick, but then again, Luke had never been left alone. He was probably scared, she knew she would be if she was in Luke's shoes.

* * *

Luke stared at the clock on the bedside table, literally counting the hours until it reached three o' clock.

The tv was on, but he was barely paying attention to the show. He twisted the ring on his hand.

It didn't look very special, just a small silver ring. Emily had much nicer rings with jewels. She had told him they were fake.

Mum had a gold ring she never wore anymore. He had asked her about it, she told him it was a wedding ring.

He heard voices and footsteps on the stairs, and his door opened as Maria, Emily, and Clyde entered.

Maria smiled at him. "I missed you, and I got your homework."

She placed a pile of books on the bed.

Luke's eyes lit up. Unlike most kids, he enjoyed doing homework. He reached for the top book, his maths book.

Clyde rolled his eyes. "Lukey-boy, how many times do I have to remind you? It's not cool to _like_ doing homework."

Maria and Emily both rolled their eyes, and Emily sat next to Luke on the bed, bed, digging in her backpack. "I got you some ice cream. Chocolate and lemon, your favourite."

She handed him the Styrofoam container. "How do you feel?"

"I feel tired, but that's all." Luke said, handing Emily the ice cream back and lowering himself on the mattress.

Emily saw the ring on his finger.

"Luke, what's this?"

"I don't know, a girl gave it to me," Luke said, half asleep.

"Did you buy it?" Emily pressed.

"No, she was in here, and gave it to me." Luke replied.

"How'd she get in?" Clyde asked.

"I don't know, she was just there. Is that bad?" Luke looked at them.

"I'm not sure. Did she say who she was?" Emily asked.

"Nikki. She said her name was Nikki," Luke said.

The other three exchanged glances.

Luke had no idea who Nikki really was. Didn't know she was a Slitheen, and had tried to kill him.

Whatever this ring was, it couldn't be good.

* * *

**Scarlet next**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hello, my lovelies. Confused? Good, because this is the part where I shock you all with an explanation. (Hopefully.)**_

_**R&R!**_

* * *

"Nikki?" Emily let out a little cry. "Are you sure she said her name was Nikki?"

"Yeah," Luke said, confused. "But-"

"What did she look like?" Mark demanded.

"Short of... small, she had short hair," Luke said. "Brownish eyes. She sort of just tossed it to me, rambled for a minute about how I had to wear it, then left and went somewhere. Is she a friend of yours? She said she was."

"Oh, boy," Emily said, shaking her head. "Wait." she paused. "She went... where?"

"She said she left," Luke said sheepishly.

There was a thud from the attic.

"Oh, boy," Clyde groaned. "How long has she been here?"

"I don't know," Luke confessed. "I fell asleep. But she said she was your friend- she knew your name."

"Uh, yeah, she is," Clyde covered. "Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep."

Emily and Mark nodded, Maria took the ring from Luke.

Then the four of them raced up to the attic.

* * *

They found Nikki standing right over Sarah Jane's desk, looking over some paperwork.

"You!" Clyde shouted.

"Oh, hello!" Nikki said cheerfully. "How are you?"

She then proceeded to try to climb out the window.

Mark grabbed her and dragged her down, then asked Mr. Smith to put her in a containment vortex. Nikki scowled.

"Really? That's the trigger? 'Mr. Smith, I need you'?" She rolled her eyes. "If I had a Zygon, I'd make the trigger 'let's kill people'!"

"Zylok," Mark corrected. "And what are you doing here? I thought you scattered a while back!"

Nikki shrugged. "I guess you could say I'm sort of like a roach. Wait, no, roaches are sort of a food, aren't they? Umm... I'm like... a Dalek! Yes, a Dalek! Wait, no... they're just stupid plot devices. Um, forget that. I'm more like a roach."

"Something we agree on," Clyde mumbled.

"What are you doing here, and what is this?" Mark asked, holding out the ring.

Nikki froze.

"You better put that on Luke, or else you'll find his 'allergies' will get worse," she told them very seriously.

"Mr. Smith, scan the ring," Mark said, placing it on a tray.

"The ring is a biodamper," Mr. Smith said.

"Anything else?"

"It is simply a biodamper. Harmless."

"Why would you five Luke a biodamper?" Mark demanded.

"To hide him from Archangel," Nikki said, giving him a look that said 'how thick are you'. "Duh."

"Why would you want to hide him from Archangel?" Maria demanded.

"Because I thought it would be funny," Nikki said.

"Seriously, why?" Emily asked.

"Because I felt like it," Nikki told them.

"I don't get it," Maria finally said. "There's got to be a logical reason as to why Luke's so adversely affected by the Archangel Network. There's just got to be!"

"I thought we resolved this," Emily said. "The Bane, they didn't like the signals, and look at Archangel! It's huge. Covers the whole planet. Even if Luke's human, there's got to be a few elements of Bane there."

"A biodamper hid Luke from Archangel..." Mark suddenly realized. "Biodamper."

He looked at Emily.

"Bingo," he said.

"Oh, we've been so thick!" Emily cried. "A biodamper! Of course!"

"Anybody gonna tell me what a biodamper is?" Maria asked.

"A biodamper is this sort of... shield," Mark explained. "It kind of hides you from alien signals and telepathic fields, or machines. Makes it so that people can't be trace."

"Like the invisibility cloak from Harry Potter," Maria concluded.

"Sort of, yeah," Mark said. "But... we've been completely blind. Nikki, the Slitheen, she gave him that biodamper."

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, thanks. You gonna stop talking 'bout me like 'm not here?"

"Nikki, why would you give Luke that biodamper?" Mark asked.

"I should think that was obvious," Nikki said. "He's no fun to play with if he's dead." she made a face. "I mean, that would just be plain gross. If I'm the evil villain, what does that say about me, if my archenemy is a dead guy? Nobody wants THAT on their resume," she told them.

"You've got to have some other reason," Maria said. "You've got to be lying."

"Lying? Oh, I lie all the time," Nikki said a bit too cheerfully. "In fact, I should get an award for being such a great liar-"

"Yea, yeah, we get it," Clyde said. "You're an evil villain. Will you please stop stressing that point? It's getting a bit repetitive."

Nikki just shrugged. "Well, there are a few reasons I might've given Luke that biodamper. One, it's a bomb, and I'm going to use it to blow up Archangel, therefore destroying Planet Earth."

Clyde's jaw dropped.

"Two, it's actually a mind control device, and I'm planning on using Luke to take over the world," Nikki listed casually. "Or, three, I'm trying to reenact the Lion King, and the ring is what turns all of us into little lions and tigers and bears. And, four, maybe I'm actually trying to help you," she said.

"Why would you help us?" Mark asked.

"I might not be big on the whole 'Lukey-wukey' thing, but I'm standing on this planet right now with no teleport, trapped in one of your Zylog's stupid containment vortexes, and if it blows up..." she shrugged. "that wouldn't be much fun."

"It's a Zylok," Mark corrected.

"Too bad. I like Zylog better," Nikki countered.

"Why should we trust you?" Emily snapped. "You've tried to kill Luke before."

Nikki shrugged. "I can list several reasons, but the biggest one that's screaming you in the face is that you haven't got a chance," Nikki said. "I've run a scan, you haven't got any other biodampers in your house, and I've got five left. That's enough for everybody." She clicked her tongue.

"I don't get it," Emily said. "Why is Archangel so dangerous to us, but not to anybody else?"

"Because you lot, you've got alien tech!" Nikki cried. "You dumbos! And Archangel is trying to riddle out anything remotely alien. Makes it sick. That's why Luke's so adversely affected by it. It's no allergy- it's a virus! A virus set to destroy anyone or anything that's an alien or has come in contact with aliens or alien tech!"

"But Mr. Smith said-" Maria started.

"Like I said," Nikki told them. "a stupid Zylog."

"Zylok," Mark corrected.

"Blog, Zlog, whatever," Nikki said.

"So Archangel's a virus? Like, not a computer virus, but an actual human virus?" Clyde asked, crinkling up his nose. "Man, that's on the top ten of the weirdest things that've ever happened to me."

"It's not a virus," Nikki said. "And it's not a cell phone network. It's much, much more than that. It's some sort of... defense system. Against aliens. Like Harold Saxon is trying to keep someone out, someone away."

Mark made a face. "There's nothing wrong with Harold Saxon. I like him. He's a good guy."

"Are you insane?!" Nikki nearly shrieked. "There's a madman on the loose, trying to get rid of everybody with alien tech- you name it! Torchwood, UNIT, they're all in danger, and-"

"Wait a minute," Emily said. "How do you know UNIT?"

Nikki froze, then shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she said quickly. "But, that's got to be it," she realized. "Mark..." she turned to him. "I hate Harold Saxon!"

"There's nothing wrong with him!" Mark cried.

Tap tap tap tap

Tap tap tap tap

"What's that you're doing?" Nikki asked him.

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"The tapping," Nikki said.

"I'm not tapping," Mark told her.

"The tapping," Nikki realized. "There's got to be something about the tapping."

"You got something against tap dancing?" Clyde scoffed.

"No," Nikki said. "It's just... Archangel. Four beats. Four beats of tapping. Four beats of... what? What's so important about four?"

"Four," Maria said. "Um... it's... the fourth number. One times four equals four. Two times two equals four. Two is the square root of four-"

"Yeah," Nikki told her. "Not very helpful." she paused, thinking about it. "Well, it might be helpful for something. Maybe not saving the world, but getting a good grade on a maths test."

"I was just trying to help!" Maria said, putting her hands up in defeat.

"Why would Harold Saxon want to get rid of anyone with alien tech or anything to do with aliens?" Emily wondered.

"Maybe he's trying to take over the world," Nikki said darkly.

"With a cell phone network?" Emily asked incredulously.

"But... ugh, it doesn't make sense!" Nikki said. "Unless..."

Her voice trailed off.

"Oh, oh boy," she said. "Now we're in trouble." she looked at the four seriously. "You need to let me out of here, now."

"Why?" Clyde asked, shifting on his feet uneasily.

"Just do it!" Nikki shouted.

"All right, all right," Mark said. "Take it off."

"Are you sure, Mark-"

"Just do it!"

The containment vortex fell away.

Nikki beamed.

"Great," she said, tossing Maria, Clyde, and Emily a biodamper each. She dashed over to Mark, in a flourish.

"Will you marry me?" she asked dramatically.

"Not in a million years," Mark scoffed.

"Figures," Nikki mumbled. "Good to know the feeling's mutual."

Mark slipped the biodamper on his finger and immediately felt his headache lighten.

"There you go!" Nikki said, cheerfully. "Now, this is important. The Valiant's up there, somewhere, and it's really important that we-"

There was a loud crash behind her, and she winced.

"All right," she said slowly. "There may be four or five evil little spike sphere thingies heading our way, or not," she said.

"Why?" Emily cried.

"They may be tracking me, after I stole their biodampers," she said. "Maybe," she added. "A really, really, little maybe?"

"Well, I'm looking at a big, big, problem," Clyde said. "Evil spike sphere thingies? But those sound like those Toclafane things that Harold Saxon was showin' 'round a bit earlier."

"You stole from Harold Saxon?" Mark cried.

"Okay, your obsession with him is seriously freaking me out," Maria said. "Could you stop it?"

"Guys, world is ending, and we're talking about Harold Saxon!" Emily said.

The four burst into argument, each voice outringing the others as the noise grew louder and louder.

"SHUT IT!" Nikki roared.

They all shut it.

"Now," Nikki said. "I know you're busy being weird and all, but can it wait? We need to escape before the evil spheres of death blow our faces off."

Two Toclafane burst into the attic, shooting lasers everywhere.

Nikki's face paled and she began searching for an exit. "Right. Way out."

"Wait- what about Luke?" Emily cried, dodging a laser.

Mark looked at her, shocked. They'd forgotten about Luke.

"We'll go get him," they told Maria and Clyde. "You two can handle yourselves, right?"

Maria nodded. "We'll be fine. Go take care of Luke!"

* * *

Emily knew they were in trouble when both Toclafane turned around and chased after them.

"No! Bad dog! Go shoo!" Mark said, grabbing an aluminum baseball bat from the corner of the room and swinging it at the Toclafane.

The Toclafane seemed to be laughing as they shot lasers at the bat.

Effectively blowing it up.

"Right," Mark said. "Yeah."

He reached over and slammed the door shut.

Judging by the quick work they'd made of that bat, Mark knew that the door would only buy them a few seconds to escape.

"I've got him," Emily told him, grabbing Luke up and draping him over her shoulder. "Is there a way out?"

Luke panted. "What's going on?"

"Window," Mark said, running to it and trying to pry it open.

It didn't budge.

"I can- oh, the bat," he groaned, realizing it wasn't in his hands anymore. "Chair!" he said, grabbing a chair from Luke's desk and throwing it at the window.

SMASH

"These are the moments when I wished I was a bit skinnier," Emily muttered as she carefully picked her way through the window.

"Don't be talking," Mark winced as he slipped through and his arm was cut by a blade of glass.

They fell into the bushes below.

"Are you guys okay?" Mark asked Emily and Luke.

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Luke, how are you feeling?"

Luke blinked. "A lot better... but... what were those things that were chasing us?"

"No time," Mark said, glancing up at the house. "We've gotta run."

* * *

"Oh, boy," Nikki groaned. "They're not here, anymore." she kicked at a football lying on the burned carpet.

"This feels like a bad dream," Maria said, dazed. "This can't be happening." she picked up a piece of shattered glass, and let it slip through her fingers, numb.

"There's got to be some way to find them," Clyde said. "Maybe a... a... I dunno. Tracker? Did you put anything on that ring that can be traced?"

Nikki looked at him. "Uh, how thick are you? The whole point of a bio damper is to make them untraceable! They could be on Mars right now, and we wouldn't know where they were!" she paused. "Well, that actually doesn't make a lot of sense. What would they be doing on Mars... oh, forget it," she said, dismissively. "We'll find a way to get back to 'em."

"What does it matter to you?" Maria asked suddenly.

"All I'm saying," Nikki said, putting her hands up, "is that the more the merrier."

"Right," Clyde said. "You know, I get the feeling you're secretly trying to slaughter us. But could you do it a bit more... gravely? Not so cheerfully?"

Nikki shrugged. "You can't spell slaughter without laughter, you know."

"I thought we were trying to find Luke, not make bad puns," Maria snapped.

"Yeah," Clyde said. "That's my thing."

Nikki crossed her arms. "Where do you think we should look, then? Where would your old Earth buddies go hang in their free time?"

"Umm... I don't really know," Clyde realized. "I sort of just met Luke."

"Same here," Maria said.

Pause.

"Although... I think I know one place they might be..." she said.

* * *

"Oh, the irony," Mark groaned. "School. We're literally hiding from aliens at school, in the cafeteria."

There was a pause.

Then, "How messed up and dysfunctional can our family get?"

The three were currently hiding in the empty, dark cafeteria, sheltered from outside view by the table they were sitting under. Luke looked much better than he had looked before- apparently the bio-damper was helping. A lot.

Emily and Mark had done their best to explain the situation to Luke, but it was difficult, since he didn't remember Nikki. Not to mention that she was one person they'd like to leave out of the conversation.

"I don't understand, though," Luke said quietly. "I mean... I feel like I know Nikki. From somewhere else, before. I... trusted her."

Mark and Emily exchanged glances.

"I know what you're thinking, but no way in heck are you dating Nikki," Mark said.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, genuinely confused.

"Just ignore him," Emily mumbled.

Everyone jumped when the cafeteria doors burst open. Luke stiffened and Emily's heartbeat increased. Mark let out a little squeak, then looked embarrassed, and pretended the table had shifted and made the noise, not him.

"Oh, you guys completely suck at hide and seek," Nikki said, popping her head under the table. "I mean, really."

"You!" Mark said. "What are you doing here?"

Nikki groaned and helped him up. "Well, you can thank Maria. At least she knew where you'd be hiding."

"I don't get it, though," Emily said. "How come those Toclafane were after you?"

"I told you," Nikki said, annoyed. "I stole biodampers from them."

"But what are the Toclafane, exactly?" Maria wondered.

"I don't know," Nikki said. "Probably some sort of weird, evil alien species set on destroying the world."

"Oh, okay, then," Mark said. "Normal day."

"But... the four beats... Archangel... there's got to be some sort of connection," she mumbled. "Unless..." her voice trailed off.

"Maria," she asked. "have you seen Harold Saxon on a video? Or downloaded anything to do with him?"

"No," Maria replied honestly. "I hate politics."

Nikki turned to Mark. "And you?"

"Several," Mark scoffed. "Saxon's the best."

Nikki looked down. "You're doing the tapping thing again." she paced the room. "Every time you bring up Saxon, or anyone else does, you start doing this tapping thing. And when you do, it's like you're obsessed with him or something."

"Uh, we've all pretty much noticed that by now," Clyde mumbled.

"There's got to be hypnotism involved," Nikki concluded. "That's why everyone who's seen him or doesn't know about him isn't obsessed, but people who have, like Mark, are completely in love with him."

"I do not love him!" Mark said. "I just... think he's a really good political leader."

"Maybe the tapping is some sort of hypnotism," Nikki said.

"That's stupid," Emily told her. "Someone would notice."

"You're... tapping too," Nikki pointed out.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am-"

"You are," Luke said.

"Thank you! Finally, someone who gets it!" Nikki cried. Luke looked pleasantly surprised.

"It must be spreading," Nikki said suddenly, very, very seriously, a very, very dark expression on her face.

Then she suddenly bust out in a smile. "Sorry! I've always wanted to say that," she confessed, cheekily. "It just sort of sounded really cool. And sort of epic. And also creepy at the same time. I don't actually know why people like creepy things, though. They're a bit-"

"Ahem," Emily said. "You were saying?"

"Oh, right," Nikki said. "Um, I think this tapping psychic hypnotizing thingy is kind of spreading around. And it's got something to do with the Toclafane. You know, the aliens. He did a short little introduction video, saying something about them being his friends, yada yada, all that yap. Nobody made a fuss."

"Okay," Mark said. "So, let's say this... thing is spreading around. What do the Toclafane have to do with it?"

"I've heard of Harold Saxon," Luke said. "But... from what Nikki's saying, I think maybe the reason he's trying to hypnotize people to like him, is so he can introduce Toclafane as aliens to our planet, and people won't think anything of it, and if they do, they'll dismiss it."

"That makes sense," Maria said. "Okay. But what for? What do you think Harold Saxon wants with our planet? And do you think he's an alien?"

"Definitely," Luke said.

"Lots of people want planet Earth," Nikki said, shrugging. "Various reasons. Conquest. Water. Resources. Weapons. Gold. Minerals. Your rock is loaded," she told them.

"Earth is not a rock," Clyde said, before hesitating. "What does your planet look like, anyway?"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Not telling you. I don't remember it that much, anyway. But I do know it looked nicer than it did here," she admitted.

"Great," Maria said sarcastically.

"Shh," Nikki said, suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Mark asked.

Nikki paled. "Hear that... noise."

"I don't hear anything," Maria said. "You sure you aren't hearing things?"

Nikki gave her an annoyed look. "Slitheen, remember? Good hearing?"

"You're a Slitheen?!" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Emily said, just as Nikki said "No".

Emily just scowled at Nikki.

"I heard it again," Nikki said, suddenly. "We'd better get going. Come on."

She ran through the hallways, and the rest of the group followed behind her fast pace.

* * *

"Phew," Nikki said. "We should be safe in here." she nodded at Clyde. "Can you get the lights? Dark places give me the creeps."

Clyde mumbled something about the 'great big alien needing a nightlight', and he flipped the switch on.

Nothing.

Clyde flipped it again.

Still, nothing.

"It won't turn on," he said, irritated.

"Er, really?" Nikki asked. "Maybe Mark can go help."

Mark rolled his eyes and went to help Clyde. "Seriously? You need help turning on the light?"

"Now," Nikki said.

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"Now," Nikki said, a bit louder.

"Saywha?" Clyde asked.

"NOW!" Nikki shouted.

The lights immediately cut on, but Mark and Clyde were right in the way, a stream of electricity running through their bodies.

They collapsed on top of each other.

"Geez," Nikki mumbled. "I need to get a better sidekick. Or maybe a sidekick with better hearing. Or maybe both."

"What was that?! What did you do?" Emily shouted.

"Nothing drastic," Nikki said casually. "I just rerouted the electrical current so it would relay into a loop and backfire, knocking them out."

"So they aren't dead?" Emily asked.

"Nope," Nikki said, popping the 'p'.

Luke just looked at Nikki, confused. His mind was whirling already, but Nikki? Nikki was good, wasn't she? She was on their side, right?

"Good," Emily said. "Otherwise, your eyes would be at the back of your head. Quite literally."

"Is that a threat?" Nikki asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Why them?" Emily demanded. "Why knock just them out?"

"They're guys," Nikki said, as if this answered everything.

"We know that," Maria told her.

"No," Nikki said. "I mean, they're most likely to put up a fight. Girls don't really have a lot of punch, do they?"

"Want to put that up to the test?" Emily asked.

"Try me," Nikki said.

Emily punched Nikki in the face.

"Ow!" Nikki said. "That hurt!"

When she spoke, she actually sounded like she was... slightly surprised with Emily for punching her, as if she'd done it for no apparent reason.

"Darn right it did," Emily said, tossing her hair back.

Maria smirked.

"You done punching me?" Nikki asked. There was no reply. She clapped her hands together. "Great! Then we can get started! Computer? Containment vortex!"

Two containment loops appeared around Emily and Maria.

"Luke!" Emily shouted.

"Sounfproof it," Nikki said lazily, turning to Luke.

"I... I don't understand, I'm confused," Luke told her.

"You don't have to be confused," Nikki said, as if she was talking to a small child who could not comprehend what she was saying. "Everything's going to be okay."

"But... why?" Luke asked.

"It's very simple, really," Nikki said. "All I need you to do is hack into Archangel and reverse the hypnotizing thingy to make everyone on Earth serve as a slave race."

The two Toclafane flew into the room.

"B-but those are the Toclafane," Luke stammered.

"Yes, I know," Nikki said, a friendly smile on her face. "I reprogrammed them. Shot them down with electricity, then rewired them. They're sort of... remote control, you might say."

"You made them come into the attic?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Nikki said. "Sort of. Although I didn't lie, not really! They were chasing me because I stole something from this. But what I stole was actually this," she said, holding up a strange device. "It's sort of the psychic barrier for the Archangel network, holds it all together. You're smart, so you can figure out how to fix it to reset the hypnotizing thingy. Then I can use it for whatever," she said.

"Okay," Luke said. "If I do it, will you let everyone go?"

"Yes," Nikki said, nodding.

"Okay. I'll do it," Luke told her.

Nikki smiled. "I knew you were smart," she grinned, helping him up.

"I'll have to use your computer to do it," Luke said. "It's not easy."

"Right," Nikki said, smirking at Maria and Emily's expressions, they'd heard the entire conversation, but had been helpless to stop it. Which was good, because Nikki did like playing with them like that. Let them know it'd be their fault for Earth's downfall.

"Perfect," she whispered. "Gotcha."

* * *

There. Luke was done. It would do exactly what he'd told it to do.

"Nikki?" he called. "I'm done."

Nikki bounced over to where he was standing. "Really?"

"Yeah," Luke said. "All you gotta do is put your hand over there, on that control panel."

Nikki did as she was told.

And the containment vortexes zipped away.

"Wha-" Nikki froze. "What-"

"Luke! Oh, thank god!" Emily sighed, running towards her brother and giving him a big hug.

"What did you do?" Nikki demanded, but Mark and Clyde were awake by now, and her voice was lost in the reunion of a family.

"Whoa... what happened?" Clyde asked. "The uh... world isn't ending, is it?" he wondered aloud as Luke hugged him. "Because I'm pretty sure all this hugging isn't normal. Or legal."

Maria chuckled.

By this point, Nikki had already raced to the computer. Seen Luke's changes.

"You... you..." she said. "You broke it! The Toclafane! The remote! Everything! The computer's dead!"

"It was a command," Luke said. "Shut down. Forever."

"You- you- I trusted you!" Nikki screamed.

"So did I," Luke said. "But I know I can't trust everybody. And I'm not stupid, Nikki," he added. "You know, I did like you, because you didn't make me feel stupid, like everybody else. But you know what? I'm not stupid! I'm Luke. I'm brilliant, and clever. Because you mightn't have made me look stupid, but my friends make me look smart."

There was a wicked determination in his voice as he spoke, making Nikki shudder.

"Whatever," she said. "But be warned. You're going to regret this."

She hit something on her watch.

"Teleport coordinates," she said casually. "Don't think you can stop me. And this isn't the last time you're going to be seeing me," she added. "Oh, yeah, and, by the way, I've always wanted to do this." she grinned and looked up. "Beam me up, Scotty!"

She vanished.

"She escaped," Mark said.

"It doesn't matter," Luke told him. "Because even if she got away, we're still together. Right?"

"Yeah," Maria agreed. "Together." she outstretched a hand and he grasped it.

* * *

Five hours later, everyone would finish repairing the damage to Luke's room. Except for the window, which they would say was an accident that involved Mark and an aluminum bat. Although they wouldn't exactly go into detail.

Five hours later, Sarah Jane Smith would come home and tell them they would not believe the day she had, about how tiring paperwork was. And they would smile and nod and chuckle inwardly at the slight irony.

And everyone would be happy. They'd be together.

Five hours later, they'd all be a family.

* * *

_**Yay! I hope you enjoyed this! Please do drop a review off on your way! I guess you can call this our 'season finale', since it's the 12th chapter and all. :D**_

_**-Sam-**_


	13. Chapter 13

# Family 13 #

***Bonjour, my lovelies, this is series 2 of Sarah Jane's Children*** **I just got the book version of "The last Sontaran , making it a mission to get every book**

* * *

"I love Halloween," Emily sighed blissfully, carving an eye into her pumpkin.

All four Smith were at the kitchen table, surrounded by pumpkins, seeds, guts, and newspapers.

"Clyde says he's too old for trick or treating." Luke said. He wrinkled his nose. "I don't understand trick or treating. Clyde and Maria said if someone doesn't give you treats, you could play a trick on them, but sounds wrong."

"But it's fun," Mark said.

"It's also wrong sometimes, depending on the trick,"S arah Jane said. She knew her two oldest, and their friends played their fair share of tricks when they were younger. Harmless, of course.

"Why are we carving pumpkins?" Luke hadn't even started on his pumpkin.

Mark rolled his eyes, he did love Luke and liked having him as a little brother, but there were times he wished Luke didn't ask so many questions, though he supposed he couldn't help it.

Emily was more patient, and didn't seem to mind answering a dozen questions. Neither did Sarah Jane.

"It's fun," Emily repeated Mark's earlier statement.

Sarah Jane had a better solution. "Go get your coat, we'll go to the library and you could get some books on the subject," she said. Getting Luke books on subjects he didn't understand was sometimes easier than trying to explain it to him.

* * *

The sky was dark with the heavy threat of rain in the air when they left the library an hour and a half later. It started raining as they pulled out of the carpark.

Sarah Jane handed Luke her mobile. "Call home, and see what Em and Mark want for dinner," she said, peering through the torrent of rain.

Luke hung up minutes later. "Mark wants pizza, but Em wants Chinese takeaway," he told her.

Sarah Jane nodded. "What do you want?" she asked.

Luke thought for a while, they had pizza two nights ago. He wanted Chinese, but he also wanted a hamburger, or curry.

He decided on Chinese.

"Chinese," he said.

"Get the menu from the glove compartment, and call to place the order. Tell them we'll pick it up," Sarah Jane instructed. "Order just enough for four people, not all of Bannerman Road," she added.

The very first time Luke ordered food, he over-ordered, and they were stuck eating takeaway for days afterwards. Even Mark, who was a big eater, had gotten tired of takeaway every night.

Luckily, Luke didn't over-order, and after picking up the food, they headed home.

* * *

Mark was woken up by the sound of whimpering. He tossed his covers aside, and crossed the room over to Luke's bed. He was tossing and writhing, his hair plastered to his forehead in a cold sweat.

The overhead light turned on, and Emily and Sarah Jane appeared.

Emily looked sleepy, but concerned.

Sarah Jane was concerned, herself. She was used to when Emily and Mark had bad dreams when they were little, but they outgrew them by Luke's age.

Suddenly Luke woke up with a shuddering gasp and started crying.

That scared Mark and Emily, because Luke didn't cry. (Or, at least, they never _saw_ him cry.)

Sarah Jane gathered him in her arms, shushing him and whispering in his ear as he trembled and clung to her.

"You died! You and Em and Mark, you all died, and I tried to stop it, but I couldn't!" Luke wailed.

"It was just a dream, mate, look, I'm alive, and Mum is. So's Emily, if her ugly face is any reassurance," Mark said.

"Shut up, Mark." Emily rolled her eyes, joining the others on the bed. "Dreams aren't real," she assured him.

"It felt real, very real." Luke shuddered, he could still see them lying in pools of blood, then he remembered something odd. He hadn't seen the faces, just the backs. They had all been facedown.

"No, it wasn't you." He shook his head.

"You said it was, I don't understand." Mark said, confused. Emily looked at him, as did Sarah Jane.

"I didn't see their faces, just the backs, but they kind of looked like you guys," Luke explained, wiping his eyes .

"That's good, it's not an Omen. We're not gonna die a horrible death," Mark said.

Emily stood up. "I'm going to bed," she said.

Mark headed back to his bed.

Sarah Jane was about to leave, when Luke grabbed her hand.

"Don't go," he pleaded. Sarah Jane settled herself on the bed. "Just until you fall asleep, okay?" she said. Luke nodded, eyes closing.

The next morning, it was still raining. Mark dropped Emily and Luke off at school. Emily looked at Luke. "You all right?"

He was pale, dark circles under his eyes. "I don't know," Luke admitted.

Emily took his hand. "It was just a dream, remember?"

Luke had tried telling himself that this morning, but the dream stayed with him. It was that vivid.

Maria and Clyde joined them. Clyde looked at Luke. "Seriously, mate, you look like death warmed over."

"Shut up, Clyde," Maria said. "You do look tired, though."

"Bad dreams." Was all Luke would say.

* * *

Not getting enough sleep probably shouldn't have affected Luke, but it did.

Normally, he was answering every question, no matter how many times Clyde said it was uncool, but today he wasn't any answering any questions, even when the teachers deliberately called him, since he normally knew all the answers. It took him awhile to answer, as if he hadn't heard the question.

During break, it was Clyde who called his attention to it. "Look, Luke, I know I told you always raising your hand is uncool, but this is ridiculous, you barely answered one question."

"That doesn't sound like you, Luke," Maria said. Emily was also surprised when she heard, if it had been anyone else, Emily wouldn't have found it strange, but this was Luke.

Emily turned to him. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Luke didn't answer he was staring straight ahead, eyes widened in terror, face drained of all colour...

* * *

*Scarlet next*


	14. Chapter 14

_**BOO! Yeah, I think the scariest aspect about me is my badly written fanfictions, so I should stick to horrifying people with those instead. ;)**_

* * *

"Th- there- th- th-" Luke stuttered. "I- s-saw-"

"Luke? Luke, is everything all right?" Maria asked, tugging on his shoulder. Luke frowned, shook his head.

"N-no, it's n-nothing, I- I thought I saw..." his voice trailed off, and he frowned. "It's nothing. R-really, nothing."

"You sure?" Emily asked, concerned.

"You're shaking," Mark said.

Luke usually didn't act like this. And his genetic makeup wasn't designed for him to have dreams, so the fact he even had a nightmare last night was a bit worrying.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just fine."

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Classes passed so quickly, and the rain seemed ceaseless, beating down on all the students in an endless enslaught of freezing crystals.

So getting home at last was a relief.

Luke was exhausted. He went immediately upstairs, then sat on his bed and took his shoes off, kicking his socks off.

He meant to get up and shower, but he was much too tired, and fell back onto his bed.

* * *

When Luke woke, it was nearly midnight. And he was very sure he would've kept on sleeping, had there been a lack of a loud knocking voice ringing from the door downstairs.

He groaned and slipped out of bed, not even bothering to think who might be calling at this hour.

He opened the door, and-

"Hello!" Nikki said cheerfully. "Trick or treat!"

"You!" Luke said.

"You know, you guys need to stop saying 'you' every time you see me. It's getting a bit ridiculous," Nikki told him, with a sigh. "Maybe, since it's Halloween, you should say 'boo' or something."

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked nervously. Surprisingly, he wasn't scared. More shocked, seeing Nikki right on his doorstep...

"Trick-or-treating!" Nikki said, holding up an empty bag.

"It's not Halloween yet," Luke said.

"I know," Nikki whispered into his ear. "But the others don't know that. Shh. I'm trying to get as much free candy as I can."

"That doesn't make any sense," Luke said.

"What are you doing, standing there, anyway? Go get your coat!" Nikki said.

"Am I going somewhere?" Luke asked.

"Not without your coat!" Nikki exclaimed.

"We're going somewhere," Luke concluded.

"Yes, we are," Nikki said.

"Where?"

"Mars," Nikki teased. "Now get your coat!"

Luke got his coat.

"It's still raining," he said.

"That's why I had you go get your coat," Nikki said with a sigh. "For being so smart, you're incredibly dumb, aren't you?"

Luke blinked.

"Anyway," Nikki said. "Come on!"

"Ok- what, what am I even doing?" Luke asked. "No way I'm going out there, in the middle of the night, with you!"

"I'm not kidnapping you, if you're worried about that," Nikki said. "If I was trying to do something evil, I would've done it right away. Like knock you out when you opened the door or something. And I would wear a black raincoat, instead of this yellow thing."

Luke looked at her, and realized for the first time, that she was, indeed, in a hideous yellow raincoat.

Luke folded his arms over his chest. "I'm not going," he said defiantly.

"Okay," Nikki said. "I'll just go."

"Wait!" Luke said, jumping an inch. "Wh-where are you going?"

Nikki giggled. "He stuttered! I love it when they stutter." she shook her head. "To the carnival. Duh. You want to come?"

Luke looked behind him. Go to bed, sleep, have nightmares. Go to carnival, maybe have fun?

"Okay," Luke said. "But just for a couple of hours."

Nikki beamed. "Brilliant!"

* * *

"Wow," Luke said. "It's so crowded."

Nikki beamed. "See? I _love_ carnivals!"

The two were currently standing outside in the pouring rain, staring out at a massive carnival set up in a nearby park.

"Let's go on the Zipper! Ooh, and the Fireball," Nikki added. "I love the Fireball."

"What's the Fireball?" Luke asked.

"It's this thing that goes 'whoosh' really loud, and spins you in a loop-de-loop, and keeps you upside down and stuff," Nikki explained. She pointed at a circular shape in the distance. "It's that one."

Luke jumped as he saw a cart of screaming people fly around in a circle.

"That looks dangerous," he concluded.

"I know, right?" Nikki beamed. "I love danger! Like the Japanese say, あぶない です か!"

"Huh?" Luke asked. "But that's not the correct-"

"Oh, whatever," Nikki said, rolling her eyes. "So, what do you want to do first? The Fireball? Zipper? Jungle Twist? Musical Chairs?"

* * *

"You chose Aeroplane," Nikki told Luke. "I hate you."

"It's nice and slow," Luke tried.

"It's a ride for five year olds," Nikki said, spinning around to face him. "Do I look like I'm five years old?"

"No," Luke said honestly. "But sometimes you act like one," he added, cheekily.

"You're so rude," Nikki said. "And, like, the worst date ever. You're supposed to take me on the super crazy rides, then make me feel better after I vomit."

"This is a date?" Luke asked.

"Who said it was a date?" Nikki asked. "You?"

"You said it was a date," Luke told her.

"No, you just said it was a date," Nikki said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Okay, you need to just stop talking," Nikki told him.

Pause.

"Okay, I can't stop talking," Nikki said. "But it's not my fault! There's nothing else to do on this ride," she complained.

"We can enjoy the view," Luke suggested.

"We're five inches off the ground," Nikki pointed out.

"Well, we can... feel the wind on our faces," Luke said.

Nikki stared at him. "Well, that was deep," she mumbled. "Although there really is no wind. We're moving, at, like, one mile per hour."

"Oops," Luke said.

"It's over," Nikki groaned as the ride came to a slow stop. "Finally!"

The two clambered out of the cart.

Nikki stuck her tongue out in the air, trying to catch water.

"Did you know that 95% of the rainwater has been polluted from toxins in the air?" Luke shouted, over the carnival noise.

"Yep!" Nikki said. "Which might slow me down, and make me think a bit... but it isn't gonna stop me," she said with a grin, sticking her tongue back out. "Even thrsui thit's thude, thanythay."

"Huh?" Luke asked.

Nikki put her tongue back in her mouth. "I said, even though it's rude, anyway."

"Oh."

"Cotton candy!" Nikki squealed, upon sight of a vendor. "Let's go get some!"

"I don't have any money," Luke said.

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Like I said, you're the worst date ever."

"This isn't a date, though," Luke told her.

"What? This is a date? Who said so?" Nikki asked.

"What- oh, forget it," Luke said.

"Okay!" Nikki said sweetly. She paid for two, then handed Luke a pink cotton candy, taking a big bite out of her blue one. "Mm."

"I wanted the blue one," Luke said.

"Well, too bad, because I gave you the pink," Nikki said.

The two walked for a while, until they approached the Ferris Wheel.

"Hey!" Nikki suddenly shouted. "Let's go on the wheel of death!"

"Where is that?" Luke asked.

"There," Nikki said, pointing at the Ferris Wheel.

"That's the Ferris Wheel," Luke corrected her.

"I like Wheel of Death better," Nikki said, making a face. She grabbed him by the arm. "Come on, let's go!"

"I'm scared of heights," Luke said.

"So am I, but that's not going to stop me," Nikki told him, pulling him up onto one of the carts after paying four scrip each. "Don't you dare rock the cart," she reprimanded him as they each took a seat. "And don't fall out either, because I'm not dressed for skydiving," she added.

"I wish it wasn't raining so much," Luke said. "Then we'd actually have a view. You can't see anything up here."

"I guess," Nikki said.

* * *

_Luke's feet were on fire._

_Well, that was what it felt like, anyway._

_He was running. Not really sure from what. Or, from who, for that matter. He just knew he was running, and that this running could determine whether he lived or died._

_He turned a corner, feet pummeling the ground, and-_

_"Lukey-boy!" Clyde sing-songed._

_"Clyde! Thank god. There's this thing, this monster after me," Luke panted. "I need to-"_

_"The only monster I see here is you," Clyde sneered._

_"Clyde?" Luke asked. "It's me, Luke! We're friends."_

_"I know it's you," Clyde said. "But you're no friend of mine. You're just one of those alien freaks."_

_"Clyde..." Luke spoke slowly. "What's wrong?"_

_"There's nothing wrong with me," Clyde said. "You're the only wrong thing here!"_

_The walls melted away and Luke was in the kitchen. Sarah Jane was at the stove, making another attempt to cook._

_"Mum?" he called, but she didn't answer._

_"Sky?" Sarah Jane yelled. "It's breakfast!"_

_"Coming, mum!" A girl, maybe about 12 or 13, dashed down the stairs and grabbed a plate. "Oh, no, mum, you burnt the toast again," she said. "There won't be any left for Luke."_

_"Who cares about Luke?" Sarah Jane said. "He's off at college, anyway. We don't have to worry about him anymore."_

_The girl chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. He was such a burden, wasn't he?"_

_"Luke," someone said, tapping him on the back._

_"Huh?" Luke spun around._

_"It's me," Mrs. Wormwood said. "I'm coming for you, Luke."_

_"Why?" Luke asked._

_"Because," Mrs. Wormwood said. "I want to see you, Luke."_

_Luke felt something drip onto his arm._

_He looked up._

_It was raining, indoors._

* * *

"Gosh darn it!" Nikki hissed. "Stupid thingy!"

"Wha-?" Luke asked, jumping out of his seat, then remembering he was on the Ferris Wheel with Nikki. He must've fallen asleep.

"Oh, you're awake!" Nikki said cheerfully. "That's good." she turned around and flicked him in the head.

"Ow!" Luke exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"For falling asleep on me," Nikki said. "You completely missed the weird psychic thingy that was happening!"

Luke grabbed Nikki by the shoulders. "What are you doing to me?"

"Huh?" Nikki asked. "How do you mean?"

Luke shook her. "You're making me have nightmares!"

"Okaay," Nikki said. "Great. Why do all the cute ones have to be insane?" she mumbled to herself.

"Every time I fall asleep, I have nightmares," Luke said. "These weird dreams."

Nikki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure this date is a nightmare. So ten out of ten for observation." she patted him on the back. "I'm afraid I'll have to diagnose you with this thing called cray-cray."

"I don't dream, though!" Luke blurted. "It's not in my genetic makeup!"

Nikki looked pleasantly surprised. "AHA!" she shouted, springing to her feet, causing the cart to buck a little under the sudden shift of weight. "That's got to be it!" she declared,smacking her palm against her face. "How thick am I?"

She reached over and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked a bit like a remote, except wires of all colors were scattered across the surface.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"A thingy," Nikki said. "It detects things."

"Okay," Luke grumbled. "And that helps us how?"

"Well," Nikki told him. "There's something weird in the rain."

"What?" Luke asked, vaguely surprised.

"It's been raining for ages," Nikki explained. "So I did some research. Turns out this isn't real rain at all. I took a tongue test earlier."

"You... you..." Luke said. "You planned this all along!"

"It's not an evil plan," Nikki said, with a shrug. "I'm just trying to figure out someone _else's_ evil plan. And I dragged you along, 'cos I thought you might be able to help."

"Is this what you do in your spare time?" Luke asked, watching Nikki as she pressed a couple of buttons.

"This, and try to conquer the world," Nikki told him. "It's very boring being evil."

"You're evil because you're bored?" Luke asked.

"Pretty much," Nikki told him. "That, and I kind of have to do it. It's like a family thing. Otherwise, I get... what's the word? What do Earth kids call it? Oh, yeah, disowned."

"So get disowned," Luke said. "I've met your brother, and you two are nothing alike."

"Yeah, yeah," Nikki said. "We aren't related."

"What?"

"Well, we're from the same family, I just happen to be adopted," Nikki told him. "There was this... thing that happened a while ago," she explained, still fiddling with some buttons and wires.

"What was it?" Luke asked.

"AHA!" Nikki said, turning a knob. "Got it! I know the frequency with which they're doing their telepathic thingies." she looked up towards Luke. "Have you seen those cartoons, where there's this great big cloud raining on someone's head when they're grouchy?"

Luke nodded. "Yes."

"Well, watch this!" Nikki explained brightly. She pressed a button and the rain stopped. No, didn't stop. It kept raining over her head, just in that one spot. "Isn't that neat?" she beamed.

"How are you doing that?" Luke asked.

"It's not real rain," Nikki explained. "It's actually this weird psychic stuff created by the higher dimensionish species. Except we're lower forms of life, so our minds translate it as rain."

"But there's puddles," Luke said.

"Yeah," Nikki told him. "But I've noticed that for the three hours we've been here, your hair isn't the least bit wet."

Luke felt his hair. That was true.

"Oh!" he said, realization hitting him. "It's like a quantifold emoticon manipulator with a vortex relayer loop!"

"Exactly!" Nikki beamed. "You're good at this. You want to come over on Sunday and help me end the world?"

"No!" Luke said.

"Figures," Nikki mumbled. "Okay, let's get rid of this rain."

"Wait," Luke said. "How can it be affecting me and causing me to have nightmares?"

"Well," Nikki said. "The rain will only affect beings with higher telepathic sense. I think someone might've been trying to send you some sort of message," she said. "I don't know. Was there anything weird in your dreams?"

Luke blanched. Mrs. Wormwood...

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh," Nikki exclaimed. "Well, that's cool! I've always wanted to have one of those dreams that comes true in real life." she beamed.

Luke nodded, faintly.

"Okay," Nikki said. "Let's turn this rain off."

"Do you know how to?" Luke asked.

"Not really," Nikki said. "But I'll give it a try."

* * *

Later that night, it snowed, hailed, and poured, all at once.

* * *

_**Yeah. This is one of those chapters where Nikki doesn't really do anything evil, although keep this in mind, because this is actually really important plotwise. (And don't forget about that remote.)**_

_**R&R, and Mystic Lover of the fairytale will see you next chapter!**_


	15. Chapter 15

# Family 4 #

* * *

Luke was tired the next day.

Though he did manage to pay more attention in class than he had yesterday, he did have other things on his mind. However, that had nothing to do with nightmares, or Nikki.

Today, in gym, they were going to be doing rope climbing, and besides being terrible at climbing, there was also the height to worry about.

Luke was afraid of heights, and unlike Nikki, he couldn't pretend they didn't bother him. (Which, ironically, was what Clyde had told him to do once.)

He looked at the clock on the wall. Two hours. That's how long he had.

* * *

Maria noticed Luke was looking extremely pale. She wondered if he had seen something unpleasant, and she walked up to him.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"No, I don't like heights." Luke admitted.

Unfortunately, several boys overheard him, and jeered.

"What's the matter, is da widdle baby afraid of heights?" They mocked him, laughing.

"Shut up, loads of people hate heights," Maria snapped. She turned to Luke. "There's a mat, and the teacher's here. Nothing's going to happen to you," she reassured him, squeezing his hand encouragingly.

The line moved too fast for Luke's comfort. Soon, it was his turn. He stood there, standing at the rope.

Why did the ceiling have to be so high?

"Come on, Smith, we haven't got all day," Mr. Wilson said. He was subbing for Mr. Thompson.

Maria went up to him. "Grab the top knot, and put your foot on the lower one. Then work your way up hand over hand, and don't look down," she whispered, before backing away.

Luke nodded and did as Maria instructed.

He reached the top.

Unfortunately, that was where things went south.

Mr. Wilson had to step out, leaving the class on their own. The fastest way down was to let go of the rope and land on the foam mat. However, just as Luke let go, it was pulled out of the way, and he landed with a sickening crack onto the hard wood floor.

There was a stunned silence, before everyone rushed over.

Maria pushed her way towards the front, kneeling next to him. His right leg was bent at an angle, and she could see blood and a bit of bone sticking out of his trouser leg. His left arm was pinned under his back, and the shoulder seemed to be dislocated.

Maria jumped up, turning on the guilty party. "You idiots! You could have killed him! Why would you do something like that? What has Luke ever done to you? Nothing!"

"It was a joke, we didn't think he'd be so stupid as to let go," one of the boys complained. He was Andrew Harris, the leader.

"That's not true, you pulled it away after he let go," someone pointed out

Maria turned back to Luke. Someone had gone to get a teacher, but she didn't notice.

Most children would be screaming from the pain, she knew she would be, but Luke was quiet, though he was extremely pale and he looked like he was gritting his teeth.

The pain was unbearable, and Luke was trying not to scream, even though every part of him wanted to scream and yell. Even though he had a better pain tolerance than other kids, this pain was twice as bad. It wasn't like stubbing your toe, or banging an elbow.

This pain was worse.

Two teachers came, clearing everyone out of the gym. One of them was on the phone to the ambulance, soon two Ambulance drivers were kneeling next to him.

"Hello, love, my name's Maggie, what's yours?" the woman asked, gently putting him at ease.

"Luke. My leg hurts really bad, and I can't feel my arm," Luke said.

"I know, you have a fracture, and it looks like you dislocated your shoulder. My partner's going to check your vitals, all right?" Maggie asked, gesturing to a guy with black hair. He knelt on the other side.

"Does anything else hurt?" the guy asked, shining a penlight in his eyes.

"My head hurts," Luke whispered.

"All right. Now, we have to relocate your shoulder, and it's going to hurt a lot, so you need to be brave, all right?" Maggie told him.

"Get my sister, I want my sister." Luke pleaded.

"What's your sister's name?" Maggie asked.

"Emily, Emily Smith, she's sixteen," Luke replied. Maggie motioned to her partner and he stood up.

"Jake's going to find your sister, all right?" Maggie told him.

"Luke!" Emily rushed forward. "What happened?" she cried.

"I fell," was all Luke would say. Emily's eyes narrowed. She'd ask Maria. But, in the meantime, he needed her.

* * *

By lunch, the news had spread, that someone got hurt during gym.

Clyde, not knowing it was Luke, commented to Maria. "Lucky sap got out of PE, not that I mind PE, mind much better than lessons."

He saw the look Maria was giving him. "What?" he asked.

"It was Luke, he got hurt," Maria said.

Clyde grew serious, demanding to know what had happened.

Maria told him, and he vowed to get back at the bullies for hurting Luke.

"Does Emily know?" he asked.

"Not yet, but she'll soon find out." Maria sighed. Suddenly, she gasped. "Oh no!"

"What?" Clyde looked at her.

"They'll take him to hospital. What if they realise he's not..." her voice lowered as she said, "normal."

* * *

Emily was also worrying about that, she called Sarah Jane asking her to meet them at the hospital.

She quickly explained the situation as best she could.

"Don't worry, I'll make a few calls." Sarah Jane pulled out her mobile, dialling a number. After she hung up, she and Emily headed towards the Children's Ward.

"I called Mark." Emily said.

Sarah Jane nodded, her focus on Luke. He was sleeping, his arm in a sling, and his leg in a cast. She was about to ask what happened, when the doctor came in.

"Are you the mother?" he asked.

Sarah Jane nodded. "What happened?" she asked.

"It seems your son fell or jumped from a great height. He dislocated his shoulder and broke two bones in his left leg, plus he has a small concussion," the doctor replied.

"He didn't jump, he fell," Emily corrected.

"Did you see him fall?" the doctor asked, peering at Emily. She bristled.

"He told me he fell," Emily snapped.

"Children lie." Doctor Johnson said.

"If Luke says he fell, then he fell," Sarah Jane said, not liking this doctor's attitude.

When the doctor left, Sarah Jane turned to her daughter. "Why would he say Luke jumped?"

"I don't know, Mum, but, obviously, he didn't," Emily said. "Maria might know."

* * *

Luke woke up with no idea where he was. The room was unfamiliar, he wasn't sure what woke him up, until he was reminded he had to use the bathroom.

"Hello!" Nikki popped out from under the bed.

Luke didn't even bother asking what she was doing in the room, she seemed to pop up whenever.

"Any more nasty dreams?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yes." He sat up, his uninjured leg on the floor, while struggling to set his other leg down.

Nikki was watching him, amused.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Trying to stand up," Luke replied.

Nikki rolled her eyes. "It'll be faster if I help you, unless you don't want a girl to help you."

"I need help," Luke said.

Nikki beamed, jumping up and taking his hand.

Nikki stayed the rest of the night, watching Luke sleep. As far as humans went, this one was sort of cute, and he didn't smell like most humans.

Nikki liked that he was different.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Scarlet here! So, the timing's a bit different in this one. This is still around the same time we've established the plot for the entire story, but we're shifting the canon terms. **_

_**In Enemy of the Bane, (the one where Wormwood and that Sontaran dude whose name I forget kidnap Gita), Rani was the companion. But I'm moving this to an earlier date, where Maria went with them instead of Rani. Making sense? **_

_**I'm just going to shut up now and let you read the chapter.**_

* * *

"I love Final Fantasy," Emily said, poking at her salad with a fork. "But I don't get the shooting games."

"It's not that I like them because of the shooting," Clyde explained. "It's just because they're just really fun to play."

The three sat at the hospital's cafeteria, pushing the odd bits of food aside and eating anything that appeared to be edible. Luke was leaving the hospital later this afternoon. He did heal remarkably fast, after all, and he'd be able to leave with crutches and casts.

"I don't think I like video games very much," Luke said.

"But- but- that's just..." Clyde stuttered. "That's... like... Everybody likes video games!"

"Mum doesn't like video games," Luke placidly pointed out.

"Well, that's different," Clyde said. "She's Sarah Jane. She probably doesn't even know how to use a computer."

"Giant supercomputer? In her wall?" Maria pointed out.

"I meant a normal one," Clyde said.

"She has a computer. I've seen it," Maria said.

"Well, you get my point," Clyde grumbled. "Moms don't play video games. It's a common fact of life."

"I have to agree with that," Maria said finally.

Luke watched the two of them go on, not really sure what anybody was saying.

"If you don't like video games, then you've obviously never played one," Clyde told him.

"I did," Luke said. "Remember the laser tag?"

"That's not really a real video game," Clyde said. "It's more interactive. You need to come over to the arcade after school."

"I've got homework," Luke told him.

"So do it," Clyde said.

* * *

Luke did his homework.

"I don't understand," Luke said, as Clyde dragged him into the arcade. "video games. They're just interactive-"

"Trust me, mate, once you've laid your eyes on Dragon Slayer Three, or Mario Kart, you'll soon change your mind," Clyde told him.

"What's this game?" Luke wondered, pausing in their walk across the arcade, inspecting a console.

"That? I haven't played that one, yet," Clyde said. "I've heard of it, though. Everyone at school's talking about 'The Warrior'."

Luke cringed. "It sounds violent." a slight pause. Then, "do people like violence?"

"It's not that we like it 'cos it's violent, it's just... sort of fun to play," Clyde told him. "Here. Let's just try one round. I've got some spare change."

He placed two quarters into the machine.

* * *

Sarah Jane opened the door at six 'o clock to find Maria standing at the door.

"Sarah Jane," she greeted. "Is Luke home?"

"Oh, I don't think he is, he went out with Clyde to the arcade," Sarah Jane said.

"But... I went to the arcade. It closes at five," Maria said.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

"Aliens," Maria said.

Sarah Jane went to get her jacket.

* * *

"Isn't this like breaking in?" Maria asked Sarah Jane as the sonic lipstick whirred to life, bleeping and blipping.

The door clicked open.

"We aren't breaking anything," Sarah Jane reminded her. "We're just... letting ourselves in."

Maria cringed. "Nice way of puttin' it."

The two slowly stalked into the room.

"No security cameras, right?" Maria asked nervously. She'd told her dad she'd gone to Sarah Jane's to study with Luke- so getting caught "letting herself" into an arcade wasn't exactly on her list of priorities, at the moment.

"I did a scan," Sarah Jane reminded her.

Maria nodded. "Oh. Right." Still, it didn't make her feel much better. "But what if they just... snuck out, or something?"

"Luke would tell me," Sarah Jane said.

"Maybe Clyde peer-pressured him or something," Maria suggested.

"He won't answer his cell," Sarah Jane reassured her. "He's got to be in trouble."

Maria crinkled up her face and mumbled under her breath. "Overprotective parent, much?"

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes and did a scan with her watch for alien tech.

"Aha," she said. "Over here."

They crisscrossed through the maze of consoles, to find-

"Oh," Nikki said. "Umm, hi."

Maria and Nikki stared at each other for a long, long time.

"Gotta go!" Nikki said, dashing the opposite direction. She wasn't a very fast runner, though, and Maria caught her and tackled her tot he ground.

"You!" Maria said.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me, hello," Nikki grumbled.

"What are you doing here?" Maria asked.

"I could ask you the same," Nikki said. "Although I just left the carnival," she admitted. "I was looking for the same wavelength on this device as the other, so I could have a thingy to do things with," she explained.

"Huh?" Maria asked.

"Nevermind," Nikki mumbled.

"Aren't you that Slitheen from earlier?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Yep! That's me!" Nikki beamed.

"How come you haven't changed... you know," Sarah Jane said. "your disguise? You can't hide from us very well in the same skin."

"Maybe I'm not trying to hide from you lot," Nikki said. "Ever considered that?" she grinned at the expression on Sarah Jane's face. "Ooh! You need a plate, 'cos you just got served!"

"What are you doing here, really? And what have you done with Luke?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"For the last time, I don't know where Luke is!" Nikki cried. "Maybe I'm not up to something evil this time!"

"Then you can tell us what you're doing in here," Maria said.

"Fine," Nikki said. "Well, I've got this remote thingy, and it has access to this weather thingy that actually makes people have nightmares. Except it only affects people with higher telepathic levels, so it only affects Luke. Apparently someone was trying to send him some sort of message through telepathic fields. Except emotions are really important in this manner, so he'd have to have nightmares for them to communicate, because it strengthens stuff and makes it feel more real. Anyway, that's off topic. I was messing about with the weather the other day, and thought it was pretty fun, except I wanted to know where the main control was, so I did a scan for some alien tech, which is a bit annoying actually, because it always detects my own alien tech for alien tech, and then I have to make Mr. Computer shut up- oh, I named my computer, by the way. I had to rebuild it after you destroyed it. Anyway, I-"

"Shut up," Maria said. "Please," she added.

"Okay!" Nikki said, beaming. "Anything else you want to know? I can tell you how to fold an origami crane using sign language!"

"No, thanks," Maria said.

"Okay," Nikki said. "I'll use Morse Code, then. Dot, dot-"

"Just please stop talking," Maria told her.

"I will consider it," Nikki said. "But, in the meantime, I'm busy doing scan thingies!" she bounced around the room and opened up a panel to one of the machines, the sticker at the top reading 'The Warrior'.

"You can't do that!" Maria blurted. Sarah Jane looked mildly amused.

"Actually, Maria, this machine has alien tech elements inside of it," Sarah Jane announced.

"Yeah, thanks, I can see that," Nikki mumbled, sticking her head inside the machine. "Echo!" she shouted. Maria could hear her frown. "Oh. It doesn't do the echo thing."

"Just ignore her," Sarah Jane said.

"Found it!" Nikki said, pulling out a vast collection of wires. "The on switch!"

She fiddled with something, and the game flicked to life.

"You opened up a machine just to turn a game on?" Maria shouted.

"Nope!" Nikki said. "I opened the portal part of it up!"

"What?" Maria asked.

"Well," Nikki said. "You might want to look at the screen."

Maria did. All she saw were two figures, clad in black, heavily armoured and holding guns. "It's just a game," she said, annoyed.

"Look closer," Nikki advised.

"Oh, my God," Maria said, suddenly. "Is that Luke? And Clyde?"

"What?!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, leaning in a bit closer.

"That's them!" Maria cried. "But how did they get in there?"

"Dunno," Nikki said. "But it is a bit interesting. Reminds me of the little Willy Wonka thing they did, where everyone got shrank down to TV size, and-"

She froze.

"AHA!" she said. "That's got to be it! The machine must've taken Luke and Clyde from here, then stuck them in there!"

"That's not scientifically possible," Sarah Jane argued.

"Do I look like a scientifically possible kind of kid?" Nikki deadpanned.

"This feels like some sort of freaky Halloween joke, and I'm hoping Luke and Clyde will pop out of nowhere," Maria said slowly, watching the screen.

"Ooh, I love Halloween! I'm being a Slitheen for Halloween," Nikki exclaimed brightly.

Maria stared at her. "But you ARE a Slitheen."

"Shh," Nikki said, very serious. "Don't tell anybody."

"Uh-huh," Maria nodded.

"Now, let's see. Can you move?" she asked Sarah Jane, who was blocking the console with her body.

"No," Sarah Jane said, frowning. "How do i know you aren't going to do something..."

"Evil?" Nikki asked. "Well, just because I'm evil doesn't mean I'm ALWAYS evil. Just like if someone's a happy person, they aren't always happy. Stereotypes," she mumbled.

"Happy and evil are both really different," Maria pointed out.

"Yes," Nikki snapped. "I've noticed the evil people tend to be smarter while the happy ones are always stupid."

"Wha-?" Maria asked.

"Nevermind," Nikki grumbled, pushing Sarah Jane out of the way. "Now, let's see here..."

"What's that remote thing?" Maria asked.

"It's a teleport," Nikki said. "Well, sort of a work-in-progress. It's the reason I'm here. See, this thing happened a couple months ago with this hospital, where it rained when it got teleported, and I thought it would be cool if I could do that. Which is why I'm trying to harness the power. But I can't do that without a generator, or the main power chip."

"I'm going to nod and pretend I understood everything you just said there," Maria said.

"HA!" Nikki yelled, flicking a button.

The screen went dark.

"What was that for? What did you do?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"Did you kill them?" Maria cried.

"Yes, I killed them," Nikki said evilly. "I killed them all! MUAHAHA!"

Maria and Sarah Jane started.

"No, I'm just kidding, they're still alive," Nikki said. "I just wanted to try out the evil laughter thing. I've been practicing that for ages."

"So they aren't dead?"

"I just said that," Nikki said, annoyed. "Humans! Anyway, there's this little thing. Think about it this way. In a nut, I just turned the machine off. And Luke and Clyde aren't there anymore. So what does that make you think? Besides you thinking I killed them," she added.

"Oh," Sarah Jane said. "If they're connected to the power source, the energy hasn't been deprived. Meaning..."

"Time window," Nikki said. "Exactly! Whoever's snatched Luke has time travel, and if they went through all that trouble just to send him a message, then imagine what it'll be like."

"What do you mean, message?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Well, they were using the rain to give him these dreams so they could communicate," Nikki explained.

"That sounds a bit like something that happened before," Sarah Jane said.

"Mrs. Wormwood?" Maria guessed.

"Who the heck is this Mrs. Wormwood?" Nikki asked.

"She's... sort of Luke's mom," Maria said. "But not really. She just created him. And she's evil. So she's not."

"You're saying she's not his mom just because he's evil?" Nikki blinked. "That's... like... the worst reason to hate anyone I've ever heard."

Maria stared at her.

"Continue," Nikki said, motioning with her hands.

"Okay, well, she wanted Luke to rule the world with her, but he had to join her," Maria explained.

"That sounds like a pretty good deal," Nikki said. "I wish I was there, I'd cash in for it."

Maria ignored her comment. "So... we kind of threw her in a black hole."

Nikki blinked. "Stupid heroes. They're so... evil sometimes!" she cried. "I liked Mrs. Wormwood!"

"But you haven't even met her!" Maria cried.

"I know, but I like her, because she's so evil it's good," Nikki said.

"Oh, just forget it," Maria grumbled.

"She's winding you up," Sarah Jane whispered. "Just ignore me."

"You can't ignore me," Nikki said. "I heard that! Anyway, back on topic. So, basically, by turning off the machine, I turned off Clyde and Luke. Except it can't really be them, because their energy signals are different. And I'm detecting them, but if I turned off the machine, then it wouldn't turn them off. Clear?"

"As mud," Maria said.

"Anyway, I think I have it figured out," Nikki noted. "They must've separated them from us with a time window. Whoever they are, unless you think Mrs. Torchwood did it."

"Wormwood," Maria corrected.

"Whatever," Nikki mumbled. "Anyway, the question is, how do we get to them, through the time window?"

"How?" Maria asked.

"I don't know, that's why I was asking you," Nikki said.

"Oh, boy," Maria groaned.

"Yeah," Nikki mumbled. "Wait... hey! I got an idea! What if we all... umm... just... sort of thought 'Doctor' over and over again until he flew into this room in a ball of blinding light?"

"Huh?" Sarah Jane asked.

"No, never mind, that's just a dumb plot device," Nikki said, frowning. "Huh."

"Wait a minute," Sarah Jane. "I'm still picking up vague traces of time energy," she mumbled. "Huh."

"Yeah, I know," Nikki said. "I can hear it."

"You can hear time energy?" Maria started.

"Well, no, actually," Nikki said, pulling a face. "I actually _smell_ it. But I didn't want to say that, because it tends to freak people out."

"You can smell it? Seriously?" Maria asked.

"Yep!" Nikki said, popping the p.

"Oh," Maria said. "Uh, what does it smell like?"

"Sort of like really bad eggs mixed with cherries and strawberries," Nikki told her.

"Seriously?"

"No," Nikki admitted. "It just smells like the bad eggs."

"Oh," Maria mumbled.

"Wait a minute... eggs!" Nikki said. "EGGS!"

"Are you making a reference to my cooking...?" Sarah Jane wondered.

"EGGS!" Nikki yelped. "EGGS!"

"She's lost it..." Sarah Jane said, watching Nikki bounce about and clutch handfuls of wires, hitting some buttons on the inside of the gaming console.

"Tell me something new," Maria mumbled.

"Nikki," Sarah Jane said. "Look."

"Where?" Nikki asked.

"I meant- oh," Sarah Jane mumbled.

"If you're gonna start an epic speech or something, can it wait? I'm doing something super clever and brilliant right now," Nikki said. "AHA!"

She flicked a switch and the room pitched.

"Wow, we're actually travelling in time!" Nikki beamed. "Well, that's one more thing I can check off on my Life Goals List."

"You have a list for that?" Maria asked incredulously.

"Why? Doesn't everyone else?" Nikki wondered.

"Wait. Did you say we're travelling in time?" Maria asked.

"We must've stopped," Nikki noted. "Oh, I guess we're here!"

"How do you know that?" Sarah Jane demanded. "It's too dark. The lights are all out."

"Well, I have laser vision, so I can see Clyde who's tied up in the corner of the room," Nikki quipped.

"I'm not going to comment on the laser thing, but I'm going to ask which corner he's in so I can untie him," Maria said.

"Well, I have these epic nightvision goggles I'm wearing," Nikki said.

"Bring a flashlight," Maria mumbled.

Nikki scoffed. "No way. That's not cool in any aspect."

"Clyde?" Maria yelled.

"I lied. He's not actually tied up. I don't have goggles," Nikki said. "But I do have my imagination!" she added.

"Luke? Are you there?" Sarah Jane called.

"Wormwood! Where are you?" Maria shouted.

"Don't say that," Nikki told her hastily. "It makes it sound like some weird hero-villain movie."

"Hang on," Nikki realised. "Dreamscape... bingo. Darn it! I'll have to mentally cross off the time travel thing."

She apologetically glanced at Sarah Jane. "Sorry. We didn't travel in time. We're just stuck in a weird dimension. Which I have no clue how to get out of. But on the bright side, Luke's here! You might find him in a year. Or two. If you're lucky."

Sarah Jane made a small noise.

"LUKE! I AM YOUR FATHER!" Nikki shouted. She waited a second. "Okay, he isn't nearby, because I know he'd respond to that."

"Oh, the watch scanner isn't working," Sarah Jane mumbled. "Nikki. Can you... uh... you know..."

"Smell anything? Not really," Nikki said, sniffing a bit. "It smells a lot like pickles. And pickles make me sneeze. And I can't do a lot of smelling when I'm too busy sneezing."

"And what do pickles smell like?" Maria asked.

"Pickles smell like pickles. What planet are you from?" Nikki asked snarkily.

"I meant what kind of creature or dimension or energy do they smell like?" Maria asked.

"Well, they smell a bit like the Bane," Nikki said. "But you described Mrs. Wormwood as-"

"Mrs. Wormwood is a Bane," Maria said.

"Oh, thanks for telling me that," Nikki mumbled.

"How close is she, exactly?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Well... right above our heads, which is why I feel this weird dripping thing," Nikki said. "She's drooling down my shirt."

Sarah Jane and Maria froze.

"Mrs. Wormwood!" she beamed. "Hi! I'm Nikki, the Slitheen! Do you mind coming off the ceiling now? I know how much fun it's to hide up there and freak people out. Except I'm not very good at doing that. I mean, I'm good at freaking people out. I don't even have to try to do that. I meant sticking to the ceiling. Those suction cup thingies you see in the movies don't really work."

The lights flickered on, and Mrs. Wormwood was standing right in front of Nikki.

"Oh, hi!" Nikki beamed. "Nice to meet you! You're Luke's mom, right?" she raised an eyebrow. "Can you tell me how you got from the ceiling to there? Is it a teleport? Because I will buy that if it is for sale. Imagine how many people I can freak out with that! I used to hide in people's closets, and pretend I was a monster, except I mistook a pantry for a closet once, when I was in disguise, and I got lectured by an angry mom about eating all their food."

"By the way, how do you do that creepy face thing? Is it natural, or are you doing that purposely? I can't tell."

Mrs. Wormwood just stared at her. "Slitheen. Ah. The lower species."

"Well, I'm better than you," Nikki said.

Mrs. Wormwood chuckled.

"If you've got an issue with the Slitheen, go take it up with the fandom," Nikki said. "We actually have a theme song. We're recurring. You lot get... two episodes," she counted on her fingers.

"I don't have a clue what's going on," Maria told Sarah Jane.

"Just nod and pretend like you understand," she whispered. "I always use that tactic for interviews with people who aren't aliens."

"So what've you done with Luke, anyway?" Nikki asked. "I mean, not like I care about anything, I'm just curious if you've eaten him or done something to create a weird fandom ship."

"He's my son. I'd never do anything to him," Mrs. Wormwood said quickly.

"Okay," Nikki said. "As long as you didn't end the world or anything. That's my job."

"You are irrelevant," Mrs. Wormwood hissed.

"Am I?" Nikki asked. "Well, I did just flip a few of those big, control switches over there to blow this place up. I'm good at blowing things up," she added.

"You'll be trapped here. You cannot escape," Mrs. Wormwood said.

"Well, thing about me is, I always set my teleports to get me outta places after about fifteen minutes. Since it's been around, say, ten minutes, I have five minutes to save Luke and Clyde, and then smush you into dust," she beamed. "No pressure!"

She pushed Mrs. Wormwood out of the way, tackling her to the ground. She looked up at Sarah Jane and Maria.

"Go! Go now, and save them!" she yelled.

They gave her a questioning look.

"Sorry. I just wanted to check that off my list, too," Nikki said.

Maria nodded and the two charged off.

"I feel like I'm walking through clouds," Maria mumbled. "And not in the good way, either. I feel like I'm going to slip right through and fall."

"Well, guessing from what Nikki said, I'm assuming this is a higher dimension," Sarah Jane said. "So... try to imagine a road. A path, to Luke and Clyde. Or a door, with both of them behind."

"Why does it have to be a door?" Maria asked.

"It has to be a door, because it's one of the most natural human behaviours," Sarah Jane explained. "You knock on a door, open it, then you see someone. Like when you go to visit someone."

"Oh," Maria said.

"That, and it's easier for the special effects people," Sarah Jane mumbled. "Now, try and focus!"

"I'm trying. It's really hard," Maria said, frowning.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I'M AN ALARM! AND YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES BEFORE WE ALL BLOW UP!" Nikki's voice yelled. "NO PRESSURE!"

"Think. What kind of door means the most to you, in terms of Luke?" Sarah Jane asked. "It won't go through, because these doors aren't significant enough."

"I... I... don't know!" Maria blurted, hesitated. "There's... school. I see him at school a lot. School doors. Do I picture school doors?"

"BEEP BEEP BEEP! TWO MINUTES! ALSO, MRS. WORMFACE IS TRYING TO KILL ME, SO CAN YOU HURRY IT UP?"

"Red," Maria described. "Red school doors. Just think of them, really hard!"

"It's working," Sarah Jane coaxed. "Just keep trying!"

"I see it!" Maria said.

Both rushed to the door and nearly broke their wrists trying to turn the handle.

"Mum!" Luke said.

"She locked us in an imaginary closet!" Clyde grumbled. "I hate that!"

"GUYS? MRS. WORMFACE IS TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Is that Nikki?" Luke asked.

"HI, LUKE!"

"How can you hear us?" Sarah Jane asked.

"YOU HUMANS TALK REALLY LOUD! CAN WE FINISH THE NOSTALGIA TALK WHEN WE'RE... YOU KNOW, SAFE?"

"Okay," Luke said. "How do we get out?"

"THERE'S A TIME LIMIT! AND IT GETS ACTIVATED RIGHT-"

"Now," Nikki finished.

The four looked up. Floor. Ground. Arcade.

Right.

"Hang on, it's gonna blow!" Nikki said, pushing them away from 'The Warrior' console.

It sparked out a little bit, then died.

"Is that it?" Clyde asked. "Not much fireworks, is there?"

"Nope," Nikki said, inspecting the burnt console. "Not really." she kicked it.

"What happened to Mrs. Wormwood?" Luke asked.

"I sent her home," Nikki said, with a shrug. "Back to her planet."

"Won't they kill her?" Clyde asked.

"Naw," Nikki said. "But what happened to you guys?"

Luke hesitated. "She gave us the usual rant about how she's my real mum, then tried to brainwash us."

"Oh," Nikki said. "But what were you doing in the closet?"

"Luke wanted to hide from her, so he locked us in there," Clyde explained.

"I got locked in a closet once," Nikki said. "Which... wasn't really fun, because I couldn't breathe. And I rather like breathing."

"What is she doing here?!" Clyde asked, astonished. "Isn't she that Slitheen thing?"

"Slitheen thing? Wow, thanks," Nikki mumbled. "Oops," she said. "I might've stolen this rain teleport thing, don't mind me."

She vanished.

"I want a teleport, because that was just plain cool," Clyde mumbled.

* * *

"You know, Nikki really confuses me," Emily said.

"I know. One minute, she wants to take me to the carnival at midnight, the next, she wants to kill us," Luke said.

"She took you to the carnival?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Luke said, wincing. "I wasn't supposed to tell you."

He looked up, to see Emily laughing. "Why are you laughing?"

"No," Emily said, wiping away a tear. "It's just that not only was my brother created by aliens from another planet, but he saved the world the day he was born, and constantly continues to do it daily, and he sneaks out at night to see his alien girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Luke said.

"Sure," Emily said.

"Actually, I'm not," Nikki said, frowning.

"What- how did you get in here?" Emily asked, spinning around to see Nikki sitting on the couch next to Luke.

"Ooh, angry older sister. Uh, bye!" Nikki said pleasantly, pressing a button on her remote.

It started to snow over her head.

"Wrong button! Sorry!" she said, pressing another, and vanishing.

"I'm used to it already," Luke mumbled.

* * *

_**I'm not going to tell you if Nikki's up to anything evil, and just let you figure it out yourselves. Though there is a point to the things she's doing. So pay close attention.**_

_**Thanks for reading! Mystic Lover of the fairytale writing to you next! :D**_


	17. Chapter 17

# Family 8 #

*I own the cops, Hannah and her friends and the gunman*

* * *

"I hate the mall, Em, why do you insist on coming every Saturday?" Mark complained.

"You didn't have to stay, besides Luke isn't whining," Emily said. Mark rolled his eyes.

"One, I only stayed because I'm killing time until the movie I want to see starts, and, two, Luke is reading has been for the past hour, I don't even thinks he knows where he is."

Emily glanced back at Luke. He was on a bench, nose buried in a book.

That was Luke for you, constantly reading.

"Go to your movie. Luke and I will be fine," Emily said.

Mark nodded, digging his hands into his pockets and heading off in the opposite direction. Finally! Escape!

He was halfway to the movies when it started to rain.

Indoors.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Oh, hi there!" Nikki said, wringing out her hair as it continued to rain over her head.

Mark stared at her.

"Sorry I'm wet. It isn't from the rain. Well, not really. I was kind of at the pool. Swimming. Oh, remember that! The country club, 45th avenue, Barkingham street. Don't forget it! It's important! Oh, yeah, and take this." she shoved him a ring. "Don't ask what it is. Just know it might save the world."

Mark raised an eyebrow, forcing words from his mouth. "What-"

"Paradox," was all Nikki said. "Bye, now! And don't lose that ring," she added, vanishing.

* * *

Emily preferred shopping with Luke over Mark. For one, Luke didn't complain when she was taking too long, and for another, he was always truthful when she asked how she looked.

She was looking through a rack of dresses when she heard it, the high pitched annoying voice belonging to...

"Emily! Fancy seeing you here."

Hannah Westin, the most spoiled girl at Park Vale.

Her parents were extremely wealthy and spoiled their only daughter. She was surrounded, as always, by her friends, or rather hanger ons.

Hannah looked at the dress in Emily's hand, a yellow summer dress with a ruffled scoop neck, cap sleeves, and ruffles on the hem with a skinny white belt.

She snatched it out of her hand. "You don't mind do you, Em? I mean, yellow isn't even your colour." She sailed into the dressing room.

"She took your dress," Luke said in a state of shock.

The dressing room door opened and Hannah came out. She posed. "How do I look?" she asked. The dress was made for someone half her size, and she looked like she had been stuffed inside.

"Ooh, Hannah, that dress looks great on you," her friends cooed.

Hannah preened, turning to Emily, but before she could get her opinion, Luke spoke up. "It isn't your size, it's too small."

Emily grinned. There were times when she loved the fact that Luke was completely honest. Most times, it could be annoying, but she had to admit, seeing the look on Hannah's face was worth it.

Hannah regained her composure, sniffed and stalked back into the dressing room.

Emily and Luke headed out of the store.

* * *

They were near the food court when it happened, gunshots shattering the Saturday merriment. People screamed, diving for cover under tables, and in stores, unsure how close the shooter was.

Emily turned around. She could see the shooter coming up the aisle, randomly shooting people. Age or race didn't matter, or it seemed.

Emily's eyes locked on his and they narrowed in anger.

She grabbed Luke's hand and they started running, the gunman following them.

"Why's he following us?!" Luke demanded as Emily pulled him along. "Em, he's following us, why?"

"I don't know, keep running," Emily gasped. She could hear him getting closer.

Suddenly, she felt extreme pain in her back. She stumbled and fell, nearly pulling Luke with her.

He caught himself.

"Em!" he dropped to his knees, fingers shaking as he checked for a pulse. She wasn't dead, and that was good, but she was shot in the back, and that was very bad.

He had to get help, but he couldn't leave her. The shooter might be close by.

He looked around. They had run into the old part of the mall. Before it was rebuilt, there were loads of empty rooms, he could hide her in one of them. Digging into Emily's jeans, he pulled out her sonic lipstick, which was like Sarah Jane's, only a shade brighter and in a silver case, and he stuck it in his pocket.

He didn't know how he was going to get her to the room. You weren't supposed to move someone with a spinal injury, but he had to. He grabbed her under the arms and started dragging her towards the closest room.

He used the lipstick to open the door, then took off his jacket, covering her with it.

"I'm going to get help," he promised, standing up. His mobile went off, and he jumped.

"Hello." It was Mark.

"Luke, where the hell are you and Emily? They've evacuated the mall, there's some idiot in there with a gun," Mark demanded.

"He shot Em," Luke said, his voice shaking.

"Where are you?" Mark asked.

Luke told him. "I have to find help," he said.

"Luke, stay where you are, don't leave, you might be safer there," Mark told him.

* * *

Emily regained consciousness, eyes fluttering open. Luke was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

"You're crying, don't cry, I'm all right," she whispered.

Luke shook his head. "You were shot, you're hurt," he said.

"Shh, it's fine, silly Luke, you shouldn't cry, it doesn't hurt," Emily said.

"Mark's coming, I told him where we were, he's coming with help." Luke was trying not to reveal how scared he was feeling, but Emily seemed to know how he was feeling.

"Luke, listen to me, don't be scared, I am not going to die," she assured him.

Luke nodded.

* * *

The police were fanning the mall, and Mark was having a hard time getting back in. Luckily, he had Sarah Jane, who was able to get into the mall by using her journalist badge.

"This wasn't random," she said, opening her watch.

"Aliens?" Mark asked.

Sarah Jane nodded, but what kind remained to be seen.

* * *

**Scarlet next**


	18. Chapter 18

"Now we're in trouble," Madeline said.

She was tall, dressed in black, with bright red hair sticking out from the ponytail she'd tied it into and stuffed under a black cap.

"Yeah," she mumbled, checking for a pulse on one of the victims lying on the ground, dark black hair messy and tangled, matted with a sticky red substance. "Definitely not good."

She looked up to see a woman with light brown hair, and an older boy, with darker hair, approaching.

The woman flashed an ID. "Sarah Jane Smith. Journalist."

"No press," Madeline said, standing up. "We've got this under control."

"And you are...?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Madeline Jordan. UNIT," she said.

Sarah Jane folded her arms across her chest. "Code Nine," she said. "Sarah Jane."

"Oh," Madeline said. "Sorry, what's Code Nine?"

Sarah Jane blinked.

"Naw, I'm just teasing you," Madeline said. "Pleasure to meet you. Well, actually, an honour." There was no pause as she spoke. "Now, there's been some sort of alien manifestation going on here," she explained. "Those bullets aren't deadly, thank god," she added. "They're some sort of injection. What type, I'm not sure."

"You're going on awfully fast, considering we've just met, not to mention you know an awful lot about aliens," Sarah Jane said.

"Well, it's kind of typical, considering I'm best friends with one," Madeline mumbled.

"What?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Nothing," Madeline said. "Now, then. Aliens. I understand you are the Sarah Jane Smith of 13 Bannerman Road?"

Sarah Jane nodded, a tad bit perplexed.

"Good," Madeline said. "Then you'll know what this is."

"How exactly did UNIT know aliens were behind this? This isn't exactly their field, running about like this," Sarah Jane said.

"We were tipped off by a very reliable source," Madeline said. "They never make a mistake. Not to mention, this alien, it seems to be a danger to the public."

"Right," Sarah Jane said, nodding. "Continue?"

"This bullet- not really a bullet. It does not appear to kill or severely wound the victims, seems to do something else. Infect, if you like," Madeline explained.

"So anyone hit with a bullet will not die?" Sarah Jane asked.

Madeline shrugged. "As long as whatever's infected them doesn't kill. Although it wouldn't make much sense killing someone with an infection, rather than just killing them with the bullet, anyway?"

"Not even the slightest injury?" Sarah Jane guessed.

"No," Madeline said, and Sarah Jane breathed a sigh of visible relief, all traces of tension left Mark as well. "Just think of it like some sort of flu shot. Problem is, with the alarming amount of time I've spent around aliens, I have absolutely no clue what this is."

"So that very reliable source offered absolutely no help with explaining what the problem was, just dumped you with it?" Sarah Jane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They... have their hands full," was all Madeline said. "And that's all I'm going to say on the matter," she added, cold. "Now, then. We detected a couple of lifeforms earlier, they seemed to be hanging around the opposite side of the building."

"Yes," Sarah Jane said. "I believe that would be my son and daughter." she bit her lip. "Emily's been hit."

"So it runs in the family," Madeline noted, seemingly ignoring Sarah Jane.

"What?"

"The aliens."

"Oh, not... not really," Sarah Jane mumbled.

"Well, then," Madeline said. "We need to do an analysis."

"We? Who said we were helping you?" Mark asked.

"And you are...?" Madeline asked.

"Mark Smith," he said.

"Nice to meet you, Mark," she said, extending a hand.

Mark didn't shake it.

"Well," Madeline mumbled. "That is an exceedingly rude thing to do. Especially since we're on the same side." she offered a smile.

"Whatever," Mark mumbled. "I'm getting my brother and my sister and going home, right now. Whatever it is, I'm sure Mr. Smith can handle it. Come on, Mum."

He turned around to leave, but Sarah Jane didn't answer. "Mum?"

"Oh," Sarah Jane said, staring at the bullet Madeline extracted from the body. "You didn't say it was Meircos."

Madeline shrugged. "I've got no clue what a Meirco is."

"Meircos are time creatures," Sarah Jane explained. "They can erase or bring back people from timelines. This gun, it might alter timelines or people. Besides, the bullet appears to be of different origin than the creature who was doing the shooting, in the first place."

"Whatever it is, I'm guessing it stole the gun," Madeline started, "then used it t-"

"We get the picture," Mark snapped.

"I'm just saying," Madeline huffed. "For being so smart, you're terribly rude."

"Then tell us, Madeline, exactly how old is Nikki?" Mark asked.

"Fifteen," Madeline said.

She froze.

"See? Knew it. She's working with Nikki," Mark said. "You know. The Slitheen thing."

"Nikki's a Slitheen? What's that?" Madeline asked.

"Don't play dumb," Mark said.

"Oh, oh, fine," Madeline mumbled.

"So what are you doing here?" Mark asked. "Ending the world?"

"The opposite," Madeline said. "I'm saving it."

Sarah Jane stared at her blankly. "But you're friends with Nikki."

"Sister," Madeline corrected, frowning. "Well, not really. We're more like really good friends. Or sistery friends."

Sarah Jane blinked.

Mark did, too. "But... you're the shooter. Aren't you?"

"No," Madeline said, scoffing. "Why would I shoot people? That's... barbaric. I'm human."

"Seriously?" Mark asked.

"Yeah," Madeline said.

"And you're friends with a Slitheen," Mark said.

"Yeah," Madeline repeated. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Uh, yeah! Nikki constantly tries to end the world!" Mark said.

"She's not really going to end it," Madeline insisted. "She's just... messing with your heads."

"That doesn't even make sense," Mark groaned, exhasparated.

"It makes perfect sense! Perfect nonsense, that is," Madeline insisted.

"That's it," Mark said. "I'm done here. I'm going to go get Emily and Luke. I'm sick and tired of you random, insane aliens popping up everywhere."

"I'm not an alien, and I'm not insane," Madeline argued. "Although... I do have to admit, those attribute to Nikki quite well..."

Sarah Jane raised an eyebrow. "Mark, just leave it," she said. "If she's working for UNIT, she's on our side. Besides, we're working against some kind of alien had a Sontaran gun, in this instance. Question is, how did it get this gun?"

"Don't know," Madeline said. "We've only had the chance to study it for a bit."

"How come you're the only one posted here?" Mark asked.

Madeline fidgeted. "I sort of lied. UNIT's not really getting involved in this. I just dropped by, 'cos it's a bit important."

"How so?" Sarah Jane asked.

Madeline fidgeted. "That man..." she motioned to one of the bodies lying on the ground. "He's kind of my dad."

"He'll be fine, though," Mark said. "Right? Emily will be fine, too."

"Yeah," Madeline said. "I'm just trying to figure out... what kind of stupid aliens these are!"

"It was a Meirco gun," Sarah Jane repeated. "If only I knew more about the Meirconians!"

"What do you know?" Madeline asked. "List everything."

"We need to get to Emily!" Mark interrupted. "Why is everyone forgetting Emily?!"

"Who's Emily?" Sarah Jane asked.

Mark froze. "She's... my sister! You know, Mum!"

"You don't have a sister," Sarah Jane said.

"Oh, shoot!" Mark said, eyes widening. "This is one of those weird alternate universe things where everyone starts disappearing, isn't it? Am I gonna start fading out soon?" he looked at his hands, then smacked himself in the head, just to make sure he was solid.

"Ow," he said.

"Mark, what are you doing?" Sarah Jane asked, annoyed.

"It's Emily," Mark said, desperately. "She's been shot and infected by who knows what, and-"

He froze.

"Infected," he said hoarsely. "What if... everyone who's been shot... gets erased from history?"

"Mark, I don't know what you're talking about," Sarah Jane said.

"Same here," Madeline mumbled.

"Luke," Mark said. "We need to get Luke. C'mon, Mum, you gotta remember Luke."

"He stayed home, remember? Didn't want to go to the movies," Sarah Jane told him, frowning.

"Shoot," Mark moaned. "There's got to be some way of reversing it, though! Has to!"

"Mark, we don't know who you're talking about." Madeline sounded positively annoyed.

"You've got something to do with this," Mark snapped. "I'm gonna find out what."

Madeline looked at him for a second.

Then she burst into laughter. Not evil laughter, just the kind that makes your stomach hurt. "You'd get along well with Nikki. You'd play out your hero-villain plots well."

Mark grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "What did you do to my sister?" he demanded.

"Mark, now, that's enough," Sarah Jane snapped. "I don't know what's gotten into you."

"Mum," Mark said. "You know aliens, right? The gun? Over there?" he pointed to the gun lying on the table Madeline had set up. "I have a sister. Her name's Emily. She got shot with that gun, and somehow, whatever the infection is, it erased her from history. I'm the only one who remembers her, and you've got to believe me."

"Say that's the case," Madeline said, ignoring the conflicted look Sarah Jane had on her face. "Then why would you be the only one who remembers her?"

"I don't know," Mark said honestly. "But it's the truth. You've got to believe me. Sarah Jane, remember? This sort of thing happened before. With the-"

"Trickster," Sarah Jane finished.

"And who's the Trickster, exactly?" Madeline asked.

"This... being," Sarah Jane said. "Constantly meddling with the timetables. He can't kill, you understand, just bring people back to life. But that's how he creates chaos. One person alive that shouldn't be can change the entire world as we know it."

"Ooh," Madeline said. "That doesn't sound really good."

"You've got to have something to do with it!" Mark stumbled. "There has to be a reason why you're here! Unless..." his voice trailed off. "You haven't died recently, have you?"

"No way!" Madeline exclaimed. "Dying sucks! And I never do anything that sucks."

Sarah Jane frowned. "I don't think you can help dying."

"Well, if I could help it, I would," Madeline said, crossing her arms.

"She's too stubborn," Mark mumbled. "The Trickster couldn't get to her."

"With... Maria," Mark hesitated. "She said ol' what's-her-face forgot everything that happened. Said that it happened a long time ago."

"I'm not dead!" Madeline insisted. "I can't be dead! It doesn't make scientific sense! It'd be a-"

"Paradox," Mark said.

"Exactly," Madeline said, but Mark wasn't paying attention. He was looking at his finger.

_Paradox._

"Oh, boy," he said. "I think I know why I remember."

* * *

Luke bolted upright in bed.

It took him a while for him to realize he was at home. Home, in bed, just woken up from a nap. A dreamless slumber, as always.

He peered around, feeling concerned. And not really knowing why.

Luke leaned back on the covers, shifting. Something felt like it was missing. He didn't really know what, and, come to think of it, that scared him a little.

* * *

"This ring," Mark said. "Nikki, the Slitheen? She gave it to me, earlier this morning, before the shooting. Went on about some things, like usual. Jabbered, then handed this to me, and said one word. Paradox."

"Nikki hasn't got time travel," Sarah Jane argued.

"That's why we have to go find her now," Mark explained. "She can't travel in time. So here's our plan. When time resets itself, after we find out what's complicating it, things should zoom back to about that time slot. We need to find her now, and tell her, so she can wear the ring and protect herself. That way, when we slingshot back, she'll remember, and can teleport over here."

"Ohh, that's very clever," Madeline said. "You're hired." she grinned.

Mark shook his head. "But who could be the complication?"

* * *

"If you're here to apologize, ask me out, or neither, then you can show yourself to the exit," Nikki said, seated on a floatie in the middle of the pool. She was wearing dark shades on her face.

"The world is going to end," Mark told her.

She fell off the floatie, falling into the pool.

"WHAT?" she shrieked. "But that's my job! Oh, hey, Madeline."

"Hey," Madeline said, waving.

"There's going to be some sort of paradox, and I need you to go to the theatre across the road from my house, and give me this ring," Mark said, holding up his hand.

"Oh, shoot," Nikki said. "I propose to you? Gosh, I knew I shoulda laid off on the lemonade."

"It's a thing that shields me from the paradox, so I'm aware of the changes that-"

"I know what it is, it was a joke," Nikki said, glaring. "I've only got one of those kind of ring things. Anyway, sure. Fine. When? Now?"

"No," Mark said. "Around 11:30 in the morning."

"But it's, like, 1:30!" Nikki said.

"I know," Mark said. "We're going to fix this paradox, and then time will slingshot that."

"Ohh," Nikki drawled. "I see. Okay, then. Is that all? I was trying to see how long I can balance on a floatie."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Mark said.

* * *

"I think it's Madeline," Mark told Sarah Jane.

The two were sitting on the staircase, back at the mall, since that was the place everything had started. Madeline was focused on researching and figuring the gun out. She'd taken fingerprints from everyone, the victims, Sarah Jane, Mark, herself, everything, to see if she could find a match.

"I don't know," Sarah Jane admitted. "Really, I've got no clue."

"But you think it might be her," Mark said.

"Yes," Sarah Jane said. "It seems the most logical explanation. But I refuse to believe that we have to let another person die, again. I refuse."

Mark just nodded.

"I've got it!" Madeline said triumphantly. "Okay, so this gun was altered. I did a fingerprint check, and I figured out who did it. The shooting, I mean. And the altering."

"Who?" Mark asked.

"You!" Madeline said.

Mark started. "How can it be me?"

Madeline shrugged. "It's creepy, I know. But come over here."

She showed him a screen. Sure enough, the fingerprint matched his.

"But that's impossible!" Mark said. "I can't be dead! Can I?"

"Maark," a voice singsonged.

Mark turned around.

It was the Trickster.

"Trickster!" Sarah Jane shouted. "What have you done this time?"

The Trickster merely shrugged. "Sarah Jane. It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"Yeah, and the pleasure's all yours," Mark snapped.

"Whoa! That's the Trickster?" Madeline asked. "Is he related to Slenderman, or something? Not that he's slender or anything. He just kind of has no face."

"Wait," Mark said. "You tellin' me I don't... I'm dead?"

"We had a deal, Mark," the Trickster said. "You don't remember? The warehouse?"

Sarah Jane tensed upon hearing that word.

"You were just eight, Mark. You followed Sarah Jane and your father into an alien investigation. That day, two of the Smiths died. But I saved you."

Mark clenched his fists. "I wouldn't agree to that. Not with you."

"But you did," the Trickster said.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't take back the deal," Sarah Jane said. "Please, don't."

"But..." Mark hesitated. "This'll rip the whole world apart. I can't be selfish, not when the globe is at stake."

"You," the Trickster said, pointing at Mark. "You cannot defy me."

"Just watch me," Mark said.

"Mark!" Sarah Jane yelled.

"I'm taking back the deal, Trickster!" Mark said.

"MARK!"

"So there! It's done!" Mark said.

"MARKUS SMITH!"

The world turned white around them.

* * *

Mark was alive.

A quarter of the way to the theater. He patted himself down. Completely alive.

He let out a small, shuddering breath.

And he kept on walking.

He was halfway to the movies when it started to rain.

Indoors.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Oh, hi there!" Nikki said, wringing out her hair as it continued to rain over her head.

Mark stared at her.

"Sorry I'm wet. It isn't from the rain. Well, not really. I was kind of at the pool. Swimming. Oh, remember that! The country club, 45th avenue, Barkingham street. Don't forget it! It's important! Oh, yeah, and take this." she shoved him a ring. "Don't ask what it is. Just know it might save the world."

Mark raised an eyebrow, forcing words from his mouth. "What-"

"Paradox," was all Nikki said. "Bye, now! And don't lose that ring," she added, vanishing.

Mark blinked, and she reappeared.

"Oh, yeah," Nikki said. "Sorry about that. You might be wondering why you're still alive. Well... it's the ring," she said.

"I figured that much out, yeah," Mark said.

"It irons out paradoxical issues," Nikki explained. "So... I guess you could say I saved your life." she cheekily grinned.

"Thanks," Mark said, hoarsely.

"Oh, but you need to go shoot people now!" Nikki said. "With this." she handed him a gun." Don't think I didn't read up on it," she added. "If you're gonna pop up and show me my only ring when I'm at the pool doing floaties, expect me to do some research, Mister."

"But... won't that redo it or something? And will Emily be okay?"

"You worry too much," Nikki said. "To return to the other timeline, all you need to do is tap your ring four times then shout 'for Narnia', and it'll never happen."

"Seriously?" Mark asked.

"No," Nikki said. "If you go shoot them now, it'll happen and get erased. Hence, it never happens. So nobody gets killed. Don't worry about it!"

She looked at her wrist.

"Oh, gotta go," Nikki said. "Sorry."

She vanished, leaving Mark with a massive Meirconian gun in his hand.

* * *

"I'll have the cheese pizza," Emily said.

"Same," Luke added.

The two were in the food court.

And, for once, it was quiet.

* * *

**_If you're confused, then read this note._**

**_At the beginning, Past Mark met Nikki. Nikki gave him a ring that protected him from the paradox that was coming, so when he broke his deal with the Trickster, he wouldn't vanish. Then the paradox unraveled at the key point when the gunning happened, which is where Mark started off at the beginning of the chapter. Make sense?_**

**_So, in a nut, Mark's kind of dead. He died with his dad in a warehouse. Will not articulate here._**

**_Also, nobody but Mark or Nikki will remember this incident._**

**_And, finally, there was no gunning. It was erased. So... this is the Gunning that Never Was. Or whatever you'd fancy calling it._**

**_:)_**

**_R&R!_**


	19. Chapter 19

# Family 9 #

**I own Alice, Mark's girlfriend**

* * *

"What do you want to do for your birthday? " Sarah Jane asked Luke over dinner Thursday.

Luke had no idea. It was his first birthday, after all.

Mark spoke up. "Maybe the arcade?"

Both Sarah Jane and Luke both said "No!" very emphatically. After the last experience at the arcade, Luke didn't want to step foot in another arcade.

"How about an amusement park?" Emily suggested.

Luke turned to Sarah Jane. "Could we do that, and invite Clyde and Maria, too?" He asked.

"If they have permission, that's fine," Sarah Jane replied.

The conversation turned to school and other various subjects. After dinner, Mark grabbed his jacket, heading out, though he wouldn't say where.

Sarah Jane had some meeting, leaving Emily and Luke to clean up.

"Though Mark could have at least offered to help clean up," Emily grumbled, clearing the dishes away.

"I don't mind cleaning, I like cleaning," Luke stated. Emily rolled her eyes. "You're weird, you know that? But a good weird."

"I thought being weird was bad," Luke said.

Emily shrugged. "Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, it depends."

Luke still didn't understand how being weird could be good and bad. At school, most of his classmates thought he was weird and that was bad, but Maria, Clyde, Mark and Emily thought he was weird too, but in a good way.

* * *

Saturday was a nice sunny day with a few clouds in the sky.

Sarah Jane had rented a mini van the day, beforehand, since trying to squeeze six (Mark bought his girlfriend) teenagers into her tiny car was impossible and uncomfortable.

The park was crowded with families, couples, young and old, and weekend tourists from all over the world.

"Right," Sarah Jane said, once they paid for their tickets and were in the park. "You five organise yourselves how you like, but just be by the "Jolly Roger" around two."

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked.

"Don't worry, I have things to do," Sarah Jane assured him. She had chosen this park because weird things kept happening, and she was going to investigate.

"Should we split up?" Mark asked, taking charge and looking at the others.

Alice wrapped her arms around Mark's arm. "I want to stay with Marky," she cooed in a baby voice.

Emily looked disgusted, Clyde pretended to gag, Maria was a cross between jealousy and disgust, and Luke just looked confused.

"Split up, the four of us will do our thing," Emily said, indicating herself, Luke, Maria and Clyde, "and you and Alice could go and snog or whatever."

"What's wrong, jealous?" Alice asked. Like her namesake, she had blond hair, which she kept tossing over her shoulder. She glared daggers at Emily.

"Of you? Don't make me laugh," Emily scoffed.

The two girls stood, facing each other, glaring. It was like being in some sort of standoff, but before anything could happen, Luke spoke up.

"It's my birthday. You can't fight on my birthday."

"He's right, it's not fair to fight on someone's birthday," Maria added. "Luke and I will go together, Em and Clyde, and Mark and Alice," She said in a no nonsense voice.

The others nodded and they split up, heading off in different directions. Maria turned to Luke. "Em really hates Alice doesn't she?" She observed.

"She says Alice is only using Mark to make her ex boyfriend jealous." Luke repeated what he overheard Emily telling her best friend on the phone.

Maria nodded, looking at the map.

"What should we do first?" she asked, holding the map so he could see. Luke studied the map carefully, then pointed to an attraction. "Here."

Maria looked to see where he pointed. "The Haunted House."

"This one, really? I'm not keen on haunted houses," Maria admitted.

"But it isn't real, just animitronics and gears, I read up on them," Luke said. He looked at her pleadingly.

"All right, but you're holding my hand, and we're doing other stuff before we go there," Maria said.

Luke nodded agreeably.

"Well, then, let's do the bumper cars first," Maria said.

They went on several tame rides before Maria was finally ready to tackle the haunted house.

It wasn't a walkthrough, but a ride. A single car carried one or two passengers down a dark twisting path with spooks and frights at every turn.

"Buckle up," the attendant said in a monotone voice, before the car sped down the track as corpses, ghost, witches and other macabre things popped out, scaring passengers.

Echoes of screams and giggles could be heard. Luke could feel Maria squeezing his hand tightly, then he couldn't feel her anymore, so he figured that she wasn't scared anymore.

When the car pulled into the station he turned to her, but there was no Maria.

"Come on, kid, ride's over. People are waiting," the attendant said, coming over, thinking he needed help.

"I can't, I have to find my friend, she was with me, but she's not here anymore," Luke said.

"You were alone, no one else. Now, look, kid, I don't have time for this, there's other passangers. You're holding up the queue," the attendant said.

Luke climbed out of the car, confused. Maria had been next to him, he was very sure of it.

He pulled out his mobile, texting the others. Twenty minutes later, the others were at the bench near the haunted house where Luke was.

"What's up?" Emily asked.

"Maria's missing," Luke said. He wasn't expecting the reaction he got, which was not comcern, but confusion.

"Luke, who's Maria?" Emily asked.

"Maria Jackson, she lives next door, curly black hair, pretty, you must remember, Maria she was with us, something happened and now she's gone," Luke cried, his voice rising.

People were turning to look at them.

"Shh, calm down, there isn't a Maria, I don't know why you went by yourself instead of coming with Clyde and me," Emily said, kneeling in front of him.

"I wasn't by myself, I was with Maria! Why can't any of you remember her?" Luke cried. He turned to Clyde, desperation in his eyes. "You remember Maria, don't you? You must."

He shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, mate, I don't remember any Maria Jackson."

Luke turned to Mark, practically in tears. "Mark?"

"Sorry, Luke, there is no Maria."

Emily took his hand. "Come on, let's find Mum, I think we should go home," she said softly.

Luke allowed Emily to pull him up from the bench.

* * *

Sarah Jane luckily remembered Maria, much to Luke's relief, but it also meant whatever was happening was definitely not normal.

"But why do I remember her, and no one else does?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because you sort of imprinted on Maria the day you were born," Sarah Jane said.

Maria had been the very first person Luke had ever met, and he had been drawn to her. She had felt safe in the midst of all the chaos, but now it was like she didn't even exist, and that scared him.

* * *

*scarlet next*


	20. Chapter 20

"The thing is, this sort of thing happened before," Sarah Jane noted. "Before. With Maria. Except I was the one erased from history, and she was the only one who remembered. She told me a puzzle box protected her."

"So how can you remember?" Luke asked, confused.

"I happen to have the puzzle box myself," Sarah Jane said, producing it from her bag. "I carry it with me wherever I go. Just in case something happens to it."

"Oh," Luke said. "Do you think it's the Trickster again, then?" he was fully aware of the incident.

"Could be," Sarah Jane said. "I'm not quite sure."

"There has to be something related," Luke said. "There just has to be!"

"How about we go to Maria's house and see if anything changed?" Sarah Jane suggested. "See if Alan knows anything."

Luke nodded.

* * *

Sarah Jane knocked on the door to Maria's house, but was utterly astonished when a completely different woman answered.

"Hi," Sarah Jane said. "Sarah Jane. From across the road?"

"Oh, nice to meet you," the woman said. "Wait... hang on. It's you!"

"Pardon?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Madeline," the woman said. "I think we met before."

"Oh," Sarah Jane mumbled, furrowing her brow. "Have we?"

"Don't you remember? With the- oh," Madeline said. "Alternate timeline, right. Sorry." she extended a hand. "Madeline. Madeline Jordan. UNIT."

Sarah Jane shook it. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Madeline."

"I guess," Madeline said. "Considering we've already met," she mumbled under her breath. "What can I do you for?"

"Nothing," Sarah Jane said. "I just dropped by to say hello."

Madeline raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous. Luke's pacing back and forth back there and you look like you've just been chased by Slitheen. So, tell me."

"You-" Sarah Jane began, but Madeline butted in.

"We met, before. You don't remember it, though. There was a gunning incident with a Meirco."

Sarah Jane's head hurt. "That does sound vaguely familiar, yes."

Madeline beamed. "Yes, you never quite completely forget something. It's always there."

"I'm not going to completely trust you," Sarah Jane said. "But I will ask for your help."

"Shoot," Madeline said.

"Maria Jackson," Luke cut in. "She's my friend. And she's living in this house. Well, was," he corrected, motioning towards where Madeline was standing. "Do you know what caused you to... end up here?"

"Well," Madeline said, "I was planning on selling the house and moving, except nobody bought it. And I kind of changed my mind."

"So whatever erased Maria from time also erased the reason why she'd move here as well," Luke concluded.

"Maria said she moved here, because her parents... got a divorce," Sarah Jane said. "What if someone went back in time and prevented her parents divorcing? Perhaps she hasn't been erased, but..."

"That wouldn't make sense, though," Madeline pointed out. "It'd have to be more complicated than that. Trust me, I'm experienced with these kinds of things."

"The question is, how exactly would you remember the alternate timelines?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I wish I could say it was a magic thing that I was born with," Madeline told her, "but it's actually a sort of biodamper. Nikki, the Slitheen, my friend, gave it to me."

"You're friends with Nikki?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Madeline groaned. "And don't make me explain it a second time," she added. "But, back to the point..."

"Right," Sarah Jane said. "Something must have happened to her parents, that stopped her from moving here."

"Do you have their number?" Madeline asked.

"No," Sarah Jane said. "They did live across the road, after all."

"I have Maria's cell," Luke said. "Sorry. I just remembered. Maybe I can try calling her."

He dialed the number quickly, held it to his ear, and waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

"Nothing," Luke said. "It's just an empty number. Not in use. Like it doesn't exist."

"Ah," Sarah Jane mumbled.

"Wait," Madeline said. "I can pull up their numbers. What's their last name?"

"Alan Jackson," Sarah Jane said. "And her mother's name is Chrissie," she added.

"Alan and Chrissie. Right," Madeline said. "Getting to it."

* * *

"There is no Chrissie Jackson," Madeline told Sarah Jane after searching a bit. "There is a headshot of an Alan Jackson, however." she pulled up information. "We have everything on everyone in the UK," she said.

"That's him," Luke said, relieved.

"But no Chrissie Jackson?" Sarah Jane asked.

"No," Madeline said.

Then... it has to be it," Sarah Jane decided. "Someone's gone back in time and prevented Maria's parents from ever meeting. Thus the reason-"

"she doesn't exist," Luke finished.

"Ooh," Madeline mumbled. "Does that suck. For me, though, it might've been a mercy my parents never met. They don't get off very well."

"Hold on a minute," Sarah Jane said. "At the carnival. You two were at the carnival, weren't you?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh," Sarah Jane realized. "At the carnival. I saw some alien disturbances there, which was why I left, to go check it out."

Luke wanted to say something about hiding alien disturbances, before he realized... that was exactly what he'd been doing to Sarah Jane. All that time.

"Ah," Luke said, awkwardly.

"Whoever it is, they were at the carnival, and for whatever reason, they've erased Maria from time," Sarah Jane said. She got off the couch. "Thank you, Madeline."

"Where are you going?" Madeline asked, standing.

"To investigate," Luke told her.

"Well, I'm coming with you," Madeline said.

"We can handle this perfectly fine," Sarah Jane assured her.

"Yeah, you sure handled that alien disturbance really well," Madeline scoffed.

Luke glared at her.

"Look, if you want to do it yourself, fine," Madeline said. "But I have more experience with these kind of things."

"I sincerely doubt it," Sarah Jane said. "I've seen a lot of things."

"I've travelled in time," Madeline snapped.

"Fought ghosts," Sarah Jane snapped back.

"Cleared up four paradoxes."

"Created paradoxes!"

"Can you stop competing, please?" Luke snapped. Madeline looked positively surprised.

"Oh, well," she said. "Like it or not, I'm coming with you."

"Well, who am I to stop you?" Sarah Jane mumbled.

* * *

"There has to be some kind of motive," Luke told Sarah Jane once they'd returned to the carnival. "Anything."

"Maybe they're just really sadistic and evil," Madeline said, frowning. "They're giving evil a bad name, I'll give them that. Nikki would just be annoyed."

Sarah Jane ignored her comment. "Thing is, it could be anyone. Luke, was there anyone Maria wasn't getting along with this morning?"

"No," Luke said. "But there was..." his voice trailed off. "Mark's girlfriend. Alice."

Madeline made a face. "Seriously? I've heard a lot of stories on jealous girls, but that's taking it a bit too far."

"It depends," Sarah Jane said. "I did pick up activity. There could've been a temporal loopback."

"English, please?" Madeline asked.

"When you use time travel, or a point in time is complicated, it sort of loops back," Sarah Jane explained. "Converses. So that slight traces can be picked up before the time travel even happens."

"Oh," Madeline said. "Okay. Temporal thingy ma bobber. But let's say it was Alice. Do you know what that means?"

"What?" Luke asked.

"This is seriously turning into Alice in Wonderland," Madeline scoffed. "Think of it. I mean, seriously. Her name, Alice. My name, Madeline. Some people call me Maddy. Maddy and Alice! The Mad Hatter and Alice! And last week, Nikki dressed as a bunny." she stepped back. "This is seriously scaring me."

* * *

Mark looked up to see Sarah Jane approaching Alice and him. He groaned inwardly and outwardly. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Sarah Jane, it was just... sort of wrong that she was here. With his girlfriend. Which was awkward.

"Uh, hi, Mum," he greeted her. Alice giggled.

"You're so adorkable." she swatted a hand at his hair.

Mark noticed Madeline roll her eyes. Wait- Madeline. What was she doing here?

"Madeline," he said, voicing his thoughts. "What are you doing here?'

Madeline completely ignored him, to his astonishment. "Alice, that's a quantifold setting 400 Vortex Manipulator."

"What's a what what?" Alice asked, looking perplexed. Madeline grabbed her wrist.

"That strap, there?" Madeline hissed. "Where did you get it, and who taught you to use it?"

Alice struggled to get away. "I... nowhere. I just found it. In the attic. In my house."

Madeline's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I suppose that means you have nothing to do with the fact that Maria Jackson has gone missing."

"Who's Maria? I don't know any Maria," Alice said quickly.

"What's goin' on here?" Mark asked, finally forcing words out of his mouth.

"Your girlfriend is erasing people from time," Madeline concluded. "But that's a setting 400 Vortex Manipulator. You'd have to know how to use it. So I'll ask again, but only one more time, and then I'm arresting you. Who the hell gave you that Vortex Manipulator?"

Alice looked a bit guilty. "My... ex-boyfriend."

Madeline's eyes narrowed. "Who exactly was your ex-boyfriend, may I ask?"

"Jacob... that's all I'm going to tell you," Alice concluded. "No last name."

"Jacob Jenkins," Luke confirmed.

"But... I didn't mean to!" Alice said as Madeline yanked the device off of her wrist. She looked absolutely terrified. "It was an accident!"

"I'm going to give you one chance, kiddo," Madeline snarled. "I get you've got a family. So go home to it. If I catch you doing anything like this again, you're gonna regret it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alice protested. "It was an accident! An accident! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

"I'm gonna go fix things, you handle the cray cray chick here," Madeline groaned. "Back to HQ. Don't worry, Maria'll get back," she added.

She pressed two buttons and vanished.

"I don't know what's happening," Mark finally said.

"I didn't mean to, Marky," Alice told him. "You have to believe me!"

"Get away from me," Mark hissed.

"But-"

"GET AWAY!" he roared. "I don't ever want to see you again, y'hear me?"

He turned and bolted.

"Mark, wait-" Luke tried, but Mark had fled the carnival.

Alice was in tears, on the ground. Sarah Jane looked like she was trying to find her happy place. And Luke was just standing there with his arm outstretched.

"Some birthday," Luke said, finally.


	21. Chapter 21

# Family 20 #

**I own ,(aka Nicole) and **

* * *

"Is this it?" Sarah Jane asked Mark as they drove down a long, winding road lined with trees on either side.

Mark consulted the map on his laptop. "Looks like it."

In the backseat, Emily and Luke were staring in awe at the loomimg house that rose before them.

To say the Westchester Hall was big was an understatement. The place was massive. Four stories high with turrets and balconies, peaked roofs, and even a bell tower.

Sarah Jane had been asked to write an article on the history of Westchester House and had decided to bring Mark, Emily, and Luke along, so it was almost like a family holiday, for they would be staying there a week.

Grabbing their suitcases out of the boot, they headed up the stone steps until they came to a wooden door with a lions-head knocker, but before any of them could reach for it , the door was swung open and a woman bedecked in a red dress and cardigan appeared.

"Ms. Smith, so glad you could make it, come in, please."

The woman stepped aside, letting them into a dark, gloomy looking foyer.

The woman walked about the room pulling open heavy curtains, which made a huge difference, and the room wasn't quite so gloomy.

Sarah Jane shook the woman's hand. "I bought my children along, I hope you don't mind."

The woman shook her head. She was young, in her late twenties, pale and delicate looking with masses of red curls, dressed in an old-fashioned gown with flowers in her hair. She looked like a Celtic princess.

Introductions were made, then Mrs. Wersten gestured for them to follow her. As they walked, she regaled them with the history of the house.

"This house was built in the 16th century by an Earl, for his fiancee, but, tragically, they never married," she said.

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"They say she spent one night, the day before their wedding in this house, and went mad, throwing herself off the south tower."

"Ugh." Emily shuddered.

"Wicked," Mark grinned.

Sarah Jane looked sad, it was a tragic story, but Luke looked curious.

"How come she went mad after only one night?" he asked.

"She thought she heard voices, but could never find the source," Nicole said. They reached their destination, a sitting room with a massive fireplace.

"After tea, I'll show you to your rooms," she said, picking up a bell from the table and ringing it.

* * *

"This place is creepy," Emily said later that night. The three of them were in Luke's room.

All three rooms had four poster king-sized beds that were so high you needed to have a step to get onto them. There were paintings and tapestries hanging on the walls.

"Drafty, maybe, but not creepy," Mark said. "Only one person died here."

"Nearly a hundred people died here," Luke said from the foot of the bed. He looked up from the laptop, twisting around so he was facing his older siblings. "This place is supposed to be cursed."

"Cursed how?" Mark asked.

"Mysterious deaths, suicides, attempted murders," Luke said, pointing to the screen. "Everyone who lives or stays here somehow ends up dead, one way or another. "

"Oh great, that's a cheery thought." Emily muttered.

"I don't believe in curses," Luke said, shutting the laptop off. "There's no scientific basis for them," he continued, crawling to the head of the head of the bed and sliding under the covers.

"Goodnight, don't let the ghosts get you," Mark teased as he and Emily headed towards the door.

"Shut up, Mark, night Luke," Emily said.

They left, closing the door, plunging the room into darkness.

* * *

Luke wasn't sure what woke him up, but something didn't feel right. He sat up, squinting in the darkness. Suddenly, his door was thrown open, as if by a sudden gust of wind, and he was flung off his bed.

Then, as if someone were pulling him, he felt himself being dragged across the floor, out the door, and down the hall.

He started screaming. It was terrifying to be completely helpless and not know what was going on. He tried to grab onto something, but couldn't get a proper grip.

Several doors flung opened and everyone rushed into the hall.

Sarah Jane opened her watch. The readings were off-kilter, there was no way to know if this was alien related, or something much more sinister.

Emily and Mark watched in horror as some unseen force dragged their little brother down the corridor, then he was thrown across the room as if he were some sort of child's discarded toy, landing in a crumbled heap.

"What the hell is going on?!" Mark demanded.

"This be the curse." An ominous voice said near Emily's side. She jumped.

Sarah Jane whirled on him, eyes flashing. "What are you talking about? What's going on?" She ordered.

"This place chooses a victim to kill." The man said.

"That's terrible!" Emily cried.

"Curse or not, this house is not killing my child, I will stop that from happening," Sarah Jane vowed, going over to Luke.

"You can't stop it," Mr. Densin said warningly, before disappearing down the corridor.

"Mum." Emily and Mark looked at her, Sarah Jane's eyes were fierce with determination. "We will stop this," she promised.

Several minutes later, Luke was tucked back in bed, Emily and Mark on either side of him. Sarah Jane was in the arm chair on the laptop, trying to find out more about the curse.

Mark came over. "I don't know this makes any difference or matters, but Luke said he didn't believe in curses. If this curse is real, maybe it's targeting Luke on purpose, trying to prove a point."

Sarah Jane sighed. As such, she didn't believe in curses or ghosts, either. Most things had a scientific reasoning behind it, but this might be one time where there was no scientific reason behind whatever was going on, because her watch had not picked up any alien traces.

She looked over at the bed. Curse or no curse, she was not going to let him die.

* * *

**scarlet next**


	22. Chapter 22

It was about an hour later when things started progressing.

"There," Sarah Jane said. "Right there. Did you see that?"

"See what?" Mark asked.

Sarah Jane stood up from the sofa. "I had a blip- just a blip, mind you, of alien technology."

"So it's aliens, then?" Emily gasped. Mark looked a bit disappointed, yet relieved at the same time. Ghosts were something new, but aliens were something he could handle as well.

"It's... getting bigger," Emily said, looking at the readings on Sarah Jane's watch.

"Uh-oh," Mark said, just as the readings suddenly cut off.

"What was that?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," Sarah Jane said. "But it proves that-"

A pause.

"Is that rain?" Emily asked.

"I'm hearing rain," Mark said.

"How is that relevant?" Sarah Jane asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"It's raining indoors," Emily noted.

"Who ya gonna call?" Nikki shouted.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. Nikki looked a bit embarrassed.

"Ghostbusters," she finished halfheartedly. "Uh, sorry. I think I came a bit too early. Is anyone in definite danger?"

Mark pointed to Luke.

"He's... sleeping," Nikki pointed out. "Unless he's in danger from Mrs. Wormface again."

"We don't know how, but we think he's under a curse," Emily said. Nikki shrugged, bouncing over to Sarah Jane and the laptop.

"Whatcha working on there, Luke's mum?" she asked cheefully.

Sarah Jane looked positively irked. "I'm trying to find out-"

"Wow," Nikki said. "You should delete your tabs. Emily, did you know your mum searched up how to cook eggs without burning them? Wait, is that a dating advice tab I'm seein-"

Sarah Jane snapped the laptop shut, although she looked a bit embarrassed. "A friend... borrowed my laptop," she said quickly, noticing the shocked looks on Emily and Mark's faces.

"Right," Nikki said, quirking an eyebrow. "Was this friend imaginary?"

Sarah Jane ignored her comment. "What are you doing here, exactly?"

Nikki looked slightly put down. "Well, I was kind of looking for people to save- I mean, uh, kill. Because I'm evil."

"So shoot us," Mark said.

"I like you guys," Nikki said, pacing. "Besides, if I did, I wouldn't get to mess around with anybody." she winked at Mark, who rolled his eyes.

"Can you help Luke?" Emily asked.

Nikki bounced over to him. "I don't know. What happened?"

"There were these... weird... I don't know," Emily said. "But... it... was like something invisible was throwing him around."

"Lemme check," Nikki said. "Huh... smells like..." Nikki froze. "I can't smell anything. Except for you guys, I mean."

"Got a runny nose? Allergies?" Mark suggested. "Maybe you're sick, or something?"

"Please," Nikki said. "Looking at your face, I get sick. But..." she winced. "There's nothing. And I get this weird feeling if there's aliens around."

"Are you saying it's a ghost?" Emily asked.

"There isn't any scientific basis for ghosts to be real," Sarah Jane and Nikki said at the same time.

"Exactly," Nikki concluded. "It simply isn't possible."

It started raining again. Mark and Emily looked up in surprise, although Sarah Jane just seemed a bit annoyed.

"Sorry," Nikki mumbled. "I really gotta fix Molly. She keeps on randomly teleporting me places."

"Who's Molly?" Emily asked.

"My girlfriend," Nikki said, just before she vanished.

"Do you think it's her?" Emily wondered. "Y'know, messing with our heads and using alien tech to bug us. And maybe she blocked it somehow. She does have bio dampers."

"I did a check for bio dampers," Sarah Jane mumbled. "There's no cloaking devices anywhere."

"I don't think it's Nikki," Mark said.

"Why not?" Emily asked.

"I think she's just being evil because her parents want to," Mark explained, "and the reason she's so insistent that she's evil is because she wants people to like her."

"So she's evil... to get attention?" Emily deadpanned. "That's got to be the worst reason to be evil I've ever heard."

"No," Mark said, shaking his head. "I mean, she's trying to be evil because she thinks that we like villains. You know, you mentioned how she was talking about Ursula and stuff when you first met her? I think the reason she's trying to act so villainy is because she wants people to think she's so bad, she's good."

"Either that, or she's trying to avoid being a Mary Sue," Emily mumbled under her breath.

* * *

For the rest of the night, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

Nobody really slept, except for Luke. Everyone was too wrapped up in terrible anticipation, waiting for the events that would pursue at dawn.

Emily lay in bed, watching the hours tick by. Three o' clock. Four o' clock. Five, six, seven o' clock.

She couldn't stand it anymore and got out of bed, which was where things escalated.

Groggily, she made her way downstairs into the room they were using as the kitchen, and flipped on a light.

Something was dripping on her forehead.

She looked up. Water? How would water be dripping from the ceiling? There couldn't be a leak, it was stone.

She clambered upstairs to the room directly above. Nothing. No water.

Emily tried to reason with herself. It could be cold, really cold where the stone was, and that was creating condensation.

"Right," she mumbled. "It's just condensation."

She clambered upstairs, completely missing what happened next.


	23. Chapter 23

# Family 21 #

* * *

Luke was staring at the plate of food in front of him, just staring, as if he expected it to sprout wings and fly away.

Emily and Mark exchanged worried glances. Luke had been like this since breakfast, luckily last night's horrifying incident had only left him bruised, but terribly shaken up.

Sarah Jane had vanished, left only a note. 'Gone to Torchwood.' Three words. Just three words, and nothing else. No 'love mum' or 'see you', just 'gone'.

Emily and Mark weren't sure what to think. Not to mention, she'd written it in an awful rush. The 'gone' was slanted and the c and d in 'torchwood' looked more like an s.

Suddenly, Luke pushed his chair back and stood up, leaving his lunch untouched.

"Where you going?" Emily asked.

Luke raised his head, eyes bloodshot with dark circles under them, he looked tired and scared.

"I don't know," Luke said, heading off.

He really had no idea where he was going, he was just walking aimlessly through the mansion. There was something strangely detatching, but also unnervingly familiar about the place, even though this was his first time ever being in the house.

As if someone had turned up the AC, the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.

It was a nice sunny spring day outside, but it felt like a winter's day all of a sudden. He shivered, glad he was wearing a sweatshirt.

This had to be the South wing, the wing where the Earl's fiancee had gone mad and threw herself off the tower, but that didn't make sense. People don't go mad in one day and commit suicide. It took time for people to go insane weeks, months, sometimes years.

He was standing in front of a door, reaching out. He turned the key, and the door swung open, creaking loudly on unoiled hinges, a winding staircase that seemed to go on forever.

He reached in his pocket for the pocket torch he always carried with him, and headed up the stairs. There were fifty nine that led into the South Tower, with six windows all around it.

He headed back down the stairs, but when he went to the door, it was locked or stuck, and no matter how hard he pulled or pushed, the door wouldn't open. He could shout, but it wasn't like anyone would be able to hear him.

He looked around the room for something he could use to remove the hinges from the door, but the room was bare, except for a leather bound book lying on the floor. He picked it up and the door swung open.

It was either a coincidence, or someone wanted him to find the book.

* * *

By the end of the afternoon, Luke had found out several things.

One, the Earl was a cad, two, reading old fashioned script was eye straining, and, three, the Earl's fiancee definitely did not kill herself.

"Of course I didn't kill myself," a voice said. He looked up to see a girl Emily's age sitting on the window seat, her gown trailing the floor. She twisted her head to stare at him.

She was very pretty, blonde hair framing a peach and cream complexion. She saw what he was holding. "Where did you find that?"

"The South tower, he pushed you, didn't he, the Earl, I mean?" Luke asked.

"He changed his mind about marrying me," the girl said.

"I don't understand," Luke said, confused.

"I found out his secret. I, Lady Charlotte, found out the Earl wasn't an Earl, he was posing as an Earl." Charlotte said.

Luke could guess what happened next. Charlotte probably threatened to expose the fake Earl, who panicked and killed Charlotte, concocting a story of her going insane and killing herself. No one in those days would question a suicide, especially if the person was supposedly mad.

"The people here say this place is cursed, is it?" Luke asked.

"He had no right!" Charlotte screamed, her eyes flashing angrily. She whirled around, facing Luke, and the look in her eyes scared him. She threw her head back, laughing madly.

"I cursed this wretched place and the Earl's descendants, he deserved it," Charlotte said, "and you, my dear boy, are next."

"I-I don't... why me?" Luke stammered, rushing towards the door, but he was tossed aside. Charlotte glided over to him, reaching down, he felt a rush of cold of air near his neck.

"You really don't know do you," she asked softly.

Luke shook his head.

* * *

"What happened last night wasn't because of what Luke said," Emily said, looking up from her laptop. She knew there had to be a reason for the attack last night, and it couldn't be just because Luke didn't believe in curses, because none of them believed in curses.

"So there's another reason for what happened?" Mark asked.

Emily looked up. "Everyone that died was a descendant of the Earl."

"What does this have to do with Luke?" Mark still looked confused.

"Getting to that. Okay, so imagine if the one person who you thought loved you, suddenly decided to murder you, then told everyone you went insane and killed yourself, what would you do?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, I'd be dead," Mark said.

"You curse the descendants of your murderer. Remember the very first day we met Luke when Mum asked who he was? He said, 'I am everyone'," Emily said.

"So?" Mark still didn't get it. Emily rolled her eyes, wondering how her brother could be so thick.

"Think about it. Luke is everyone a mishmash of 10,000 human DNA, so what if the descendants of the Earl visited the factory? That's why what happened last night happened, not because of _what_ he said but because of _who _he is."

* * *

Luke stared at Charlotte, her blonde hair was whipping around wildly as if she were in a fierce windstorm, her green eyes glittered with rage, and she was floating several metres in the air, her gown trailing. She lifted her hand, pointing to the glass doors that led to the balcony.

With one gesture of her other hand , Luke found himself on the balcony, it was storming.

Charlotte glided out, a cold, twisted smile marring her pretty features.

* * *

"She's going to kill Luke!" Emily said in horror, "we have to find him, now before it's too late."

She and Mark ran out of the library and down the corridor, calling Luke's name.

Mark stopped her grabbing her by the arms. "Em! This is useless! This place is huge, calling his name isn't working."

Emily whirled around. "What else is there, Mark!" she cried.

"His mobile," Mark said, pulling out his own phone and dialing Luke's number, it went straight to voicemail.

"Now what?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," Mark said. "Check the room, I guess."

They headed off in that direction.

* * *

Once upon a time, Charlotte had been a sweet, kind, gentle girl, but her murder had turned her into a vengeful spirit bent on revenge. It gave her such immense satisfaction to watch the descendants of the fake Earl die horrible deaths.

However, the numerous deaths scared people away, and the family of the Earl stayed away out of fear. That is, until the women and her three children arrived.

She could tell the older two were ordinary, but the youngest one, now there was something about him, she knew (though she didn't know how) there was a small very tiny bit of the Earl in him, of course he also had other bits in him, but the fact that he was indirectly related to the Earl was all that mattered and if she couldn't kill a direct descendant, he would have to do.

Reaching down, she yanked his hair back, forcing him to look into her eyes.

* * *

Luke didn't know why he was feeling so tired, he just wanted to curl up and sleep forever. He felt someone take his hand, leading him to the balcony.

(No! this isn't right, something is wrong!)

He tried to stop himself, but wasn't in control of his body.

* * *

Emily and Mark watched in horror as Luke climbed onto the railing of the balcony. If he jumped, it was a 100 metre fall straight into a frigid ocean where either he would drown or be crushed by jagged rocks.

"What's he doing?" Emily screamed, trying to open the door, they seemed to be stuck.

Mark looked around for something to smash the windows. He found a heavy vase and shooed Emily aside, the windows were shatter proof however and the vase just bounced off.

"Use your sonic pen," Emily said, keeping a desparate eye on Luke. He hadn't jumped, he was teetering precariously on the railing, but other than that, he was so very still.

"Something's wrong," Emily said.

"Of course there is, our brother's about to go throw himself off a cliff," Mark said.

"Luke's scared of heights, he would never willingly go onto a balcony that was overlooking a cliff that high," Emily reminded him.

* * *

Charlotte knew the boy wasn't going to just jump, even with being under her spell, all she had to do was look at people and they were helpless. She took control of their minds, leaving their bodies powerless, but there were some that fought her or tried to.

In the end, they also died, so fighting her didn't matter, they all ended up dead.

Reaching out, she pushed him, watching in satisfaction as he plummeted to the sea below.

* * *

Emily screamed in horror, she didn't want to believe her eyes, it couldn't be true, she had to be seeing things.

Mark couldn't believe what he had seen. Luke had just thrown himself off the balcony.

Why, he had no idea, but he was dead. There was no way anyone could survive a fall like that.

* * *

Everything stopped. One minute, Luke was plummeting to the earth, the next he was still, and he had no idea what was going on, but he knew he wasn't going to die.

* * *

**To find out what happened read Scarlet's chapter**


	24. Chapter 24

_**I own Nikki! Which... may or may not be a good thing. I don't know. You tell me.**_

* * *

"Oh, come on, now tell me how good I am."

Luke looked up, slightly- but only slightly surprised to see Nikki... floating in midair?

"Whoops," Nikki said, pressing something on a remote. "Sorry. Now..." she flicked him in the head.

"Ow!" Luke exclaimed.

"Can you honestly go five minutes without nearly getting yourself killed? No?" Nikki asked.

"How are we floating?" Luke asked. "And... how are you here?"

"Antigrav thing," Nikki said. "It's sort of a prototype... and we can't exactly fly. It just sort of cancels out gravity for us."

"So... we're stuck here," Luke said, wind and water whipping at his face.

"Not... really stuck," Nikki mumbled. "More like... rendered incapable of moving. In midair."

"So we're stuck," Luke concluded.

"Yeah," Nikki replied. "Well... that, and there's good news, and there's bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"The good news is that I managed to save your life. The bad news is that the antigrav thing is kind of a prototype, meaning we could both fall to our deaths any second now," Nikki said slowly.

"Oh, no worries, then," Luke mumbled.

"You're getting a bit of an attitude," Nikki warned. "You watch it. I like you better dumb and meek."

Luke blinked. "Hold on... don't you have that remote teleport thing?"

Nikki made a face. "It sort of uses electromagnetic thingies to work... and that means it won't work if there's an actual storm. I mean, it does, but we'd both get completely fried. Luke and Nikki McNuggets."

A long pause. Then,

"Can I tell you something?" Nikki asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really scared of heights," Nikki said, eyeing the water below.

"Same here," Luke replied.

"Really? Good," Nikki chirped cheerfully. "That's a bit of a relief. Just focus on that fear, would you?"

"Why?" Luke asked.

"Don't talk. Just be scared," Nikki said.

"But-"

"BE SCARED! MUAHAHAH!" Nikki roared. "I'm an evil villain who will rip out your... uh... face! Wait, do humans value their faces or their hair more? I'm never able to tell."

Luke would've jumped a little if he could.

"If you don't be scared, we're gonna both die. So no pressure," Nikki said.

* * *

"You don't think they're dead, do you?" Emily asked Mark. The two had just seen Luke jump, followed shortly by none other than Nikki the Slitheen.

"Probably not," Mark mumbled. "if it wasn't for her, we'd probably be all dead."

"She's the weirdest person I've ever met. When she isn't trying to kill us, she's trying to save us," Emily noted.

"There could be some reason behind it," Mark mused.

"Do... do you want to go see if they're okay?" Emily asked.

"I... no," Mark said. "I don't think I'm brave enough. I- I don't want to..." his voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Emily whispered. "Same here."

* * *

"There we go!" Nikki said, just as the storm stopped gradually. "Now... I can do this!" she pressed a button on the remote, rain appearing over both Luke's and her own head.

They landed gently by the edge of the lawn, right in front of Emily and Mark.

"Hi!" Nikki said pleasantly, ignoring the aghast expressions clearly displayed on Emily and Mark's faces.

"How did you stop the storm?" Luke asked, turning to Nikki. She shrugged.

"It's like I thought," she said. "Something in the storm, it's created by emotions. Something's got to do with the air. The water."

"The water," Emily said. "The water! Of course!"

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"I was in the kitchen earlier, and I saw water dripping from the ceiling," Emily explained. "But... I thought it was nothing. What if it's connected?"

"Not connected," Nikki said. "It's called foreshadowing." she made a face. "So when I had the chance, I researched it. Tossing people around and such. But you couldn't see her, could you? It was just Luke, right?"

Luke nodded. "She pushed me off the tower."

Emily's head spun. "But- but we saw you. You jumped." she glanced at Mark. "He did jump, didn't she?"

Mark combed his fingers through his hair. "Maybe... maybe we can't see her. Nikki's right, there's got to be something connected. Something about that."

"We know that she's targeting Luke because he's sort of related," Emily noted.

"Whoa, he's related to Miss Crazy Face? Wow," Nikki mumbled. "Well, that's gotta be a bit awkward."

"Luke's a mishmash of 10,000 human's DNA," Emily explained. "He was sort of created, not born."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that bit," Nikki said dismissively, fanning a hand in the air. "Is there any information you have that's remotely important, now?"

"Well... she had to push me," Luke blurted. "She had me under this spell, but I wouldn't jump."

"Survival instinct?" Mark guessed.

"No," Nikki said. "Can't be that."

"But Luke's terrified of heights," Mark reminded her. "He wouldn't go near the edge."

"But in order for his survivial instinct to kick in, that means that the source possessing him would be really weak," Nikki pointed out. "And I think we all know she's strong. Like, Incredible Hulk strong." she made a face. "I wonder if she dyes herself green in her spare time? I might ask her for costume advice later."

"Can we focus?" Emily asked. Nikki shook her head and blew out a deep breath.

"Right, sorry. I kind of got a glance of her earlier. The reason we can't read her is because she's one of those really freaky alien thingies that are sort of beings of higher dimension," Nikki explained. "I can tell, because she started the storm via the thingies that are things in the air."

"I don't understand Nikki speak," Mark scowled.

"Wow, thanks," Nikki said, rolling her eyes. "But... basically, she's using telepathic fields to screw with us. See, these beings, they tend to prank people when they get bored. So we have something in common. That's the result of freak weather. They've been manipulating Earth's timelines for ages. They can manipulate weather."

"So... she's like a god," Emily clarified.

"What's a god?" Nikki asked.

"You know... all powerful being? Can control anything?" Emily tried.

"Don't be stupid," Nikki scoffed. "Nobody can do that. You'd have to have the code thingy, and to crack that, you've gotta be a bat. Or a school kid."

"Huh?" Mark blinked.

"Never mind," Nikki mumbled. "Anyways, I'm still trying to figure out how she's got the weather under her control."

"I thought you said she could manipulate weather," Emily said, confused.

"Huh? No, I didn't," Nikki said.

"Just a few seconds ago, you did," Luke said.

Nikki paled visibly. "Oh, oh, oh no. Oh, no, you don't. Oh, you... bad evil alien thing!" she shrieked. "Out of my head! Get out! Or else I'll Mary Sue you or whatever that thing humans do is called!"

"What's she doing?" Emily whispered into Mark's ear, leaning closer to him so she could tell him quietly.

"I don't really know," Mark whispered back, watching as Nikki bounced around, hitting herself on the head as if she had water in her ear and was trying to get it out.

Or... an alien in her ear.

"STUPID POSSESSING ALIEN BEINGS!" Nikki shrieked. "Go possess someone with the same intellect as you! They're also known as monkeys!"

"What are you doing...?" Luke voiced aloud all their thoughts.

"Good news and bad news," Nikki said.

"Bad news first," Mark replied quickly, and Emily glared at him. "What? I like hearing how bad a situation is, that way, the good news feels better."

"Good news first," Luke interjected.

"Good news is that the alien thingy that is currently in control of what's-her-face's spirit is trying to put me under a spell," Nikki mumbled.

"How is that good news?!" Emily asked.

"It isn't," Nikki replied. "It just sounds a bit better than the bad news, is all."

"Then what could the bad news possibly be?" Emily cried.

Nikki looked Emily in the eye. "She... uh, wants to use me to kill you."

"Oh, boy," Mark groaned.

"Boys? Where?" Nikki asked. "All I see is us girls." she cheekily grinned.

"I'm a guy," Mark said flatly.

"Really? I can't tell the difference between you and Emily," Nikki said sweetly. "Wait a minute! I read this in a book! I can get the stupid thing out of my head! 666! Bananas! Cheesecakes! Uh... Satan! Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"I don't think chanting random things is going to get an alien out of your head," Emily said, massaging her temples, eyes closed in frustration.

"Okay," Nikki said, handing Emily a round thing.

"What's this for?" Emily asked.

"Well, it's a water gun," Nikki said.

"What would I need this for?" Emily asked, puzzled.

"It's filled with vinegar," Nikki replied.

"And... that helps us, how?" Emily asked.

"Well, if she gets into my head, then gets me to unmask, you can shoot me," Nikki explained. "Duh."

"I'm not going to shoot you!" Emily said.

"Well, then, I will," Nikki said, reaching for the gun. "Wait... I can't shoot myself when I'm possessed. That wouldn't really work well, would it?"

"You carry a vinegar gun with you? Why?" Mark asked.

"It's either because I'm bipolar, or in case I get possessed by evil aliens from outer space," Nikki told him.

"I'm guessing it's the latter," Luke said.

"It's the latter," Nikki confirmed. "Hey, let's sing a song in Latin! t'noD yllautca toohs em, deatsni, esu ti sa egarevel dna dneterp er'uoy gniog ot toohs em, os ew nac kcirt eht live neila otni gnivael ym daeh, esuaceb fi uoy llik em, neht uoy llik reh sa llew!"

"She's lost it," Emily mumbled.

"No joke," Mark replied stonily.

Luke stared at Nikki for a long, long time.

Then he reached over and grabbed the gun out of Emily's hand.

"If you're not going to shoot her, I am," he said.

"What?!" Emily shrieked.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Mark demanded.

"Taking action," Luke replied fiercely.

"Let's think this through," Mark said.

"I already thought it through," Luke replied.

"It's got him," Emily gasped. "Oh, my God, it's got him."

Just like that, Nikki fell over.

Luke helped her up, handing her the gun back.

"Ow," Nikki said, hand on the back of her head. "That hurt."

"What just happened?" Mark asked, after a long moment of silence.

"Easy," Nikki said. "Luke followed my instructions."

"You... gave him instructions? When?" Emily asked.

"Just now. Didn't you hear?" Nikki asked.

"She said it backwards," Luke clarified. "That 'Latin song' was actually her saying 'Don't actually shoot me, instead, use it as leverage and pretend you're going to shoot me, so we can trick the evil alien into leaving my head, because if you kill me, then you kill her as well!'."

"Ohh," Emily said. "That... makes a lot of sense."

"Yeah, I couldn't communicate with you guys because she might hear, obviously," Nikki said, making a face. "Man, for a so-called 'being of higher intelligence, she sure is stupid, isn't she?"

"Did you learn anything?" Luke asked.

Nikki smiled. "You're so smart, actually." she frowned. "And that's not a compliment, either."

"So?" Emily asked, waiting for an explanation.

"Let's go to the kitchen," Nikki said. "I have a craving."

"Can your craving wait until after we defeat the evil alien trying to kill us?" Mark wondered, exasperated with the whole situation already. Not to mention Nikki's insanity. Especially since it was now making sense to him. Which, admitting, was a bit frightening.

"Nope!" Nikki said. "To the kitchen, now!"

* * *

"Let's see, let's see, aha!" Nikki said, grabbing a pear from the pantry. "A pear! I love pears." she closed the panty door and hopped off the stool she'd used to get to that height. "Wow, everything's so high up here. Were the people that used to live here Krillitanes, or something? You know, with long necks?"

"I hate pears," Mark said, making a face.

"Same here," Emily replied.

"I like pears. Is that bad?" Luke asked.

"Nope," Nikki said. "Now, then." she bit into the fruit. "Shlmike ghshi waws shashinyg-"

"Chew first," Mark suggested. "And swallow."

Nikki swallowed. "Like I was saying, this 'being of higher intelligence' can manipulate psychic fields." she exited the kitchen, and, Luke, Emily, and Mark, confused, followed her to the room directly above the kitchen.

"Like that Jelto we met earlier," Emily concluded. Nikki looked mildly surprised.

"You fought a Jelto?"

"Not really," Emily replied. "It just sort of... hitched a ride with us."

"Figures," Nikki said. "They're so nauseatingly peaceful, it's a bit annoying, really." she took another bite of pear. "But, like I was saying... wait, I already said that bit. Ahem. I mean that, unlike a Jelto, these things, whatever they are, aren't exactly traveling through the psychic energy, no, no. They're actually harnessing it and using it to control a person. See, humans have a low-level telepathic field. It's sort of like the survival instinct. So what these things do, is they kind of dumb it down and use it to their advantage."

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"Basically, these things can manipulate people," Emily repeated. "Yeah, I got her point," she said, ignoring the annoyed look on Mark's face.

"Yeah," Nikki said. "Except... this one's been manipulating this girl for so long, it's kinda used to manipulating just her family, or people who derive from that line. See, the thing is, this alien uses telepathic fields, that's true, but it gets its main power from emotions. Imagine being killed by the one person who you completely trust. They can feed off that energy, and use it to fuel those murders. In that sense, the alien sort of has their consent."

"That's sick," Emily said.

Nikki nodded. "It's also true, though." she made a face. "Which... is actually a bit cool, if you think about it. I could do some serious, world-ending things with that sort of power."

She glanced at Mark's expression and her face fell. "Or... uh... not."

"Continue?" Mark ushered.

Nikki cleared her throat. "Well, this alien, of sorts, can sort of use that anger and that emotion to control others or hypnotize them. Which was why she had to push Luke. The spell wouldn't work completely, because Mrs. What's-her-face didn't truly hate Luke, he was hardly related. I'm betting she's gone mad by now, trapped there and being used by an alien just for her anger to cause death."

"But what's the motive?" Emily asked. "Why would anyone, even an alien, do that?"

"I don't know," Nikki said. "But... somehow, they're controlling the weather. And I know it's all connected, somehow. Either that, or they're going through that phase that I went through where I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, and wanted to control the weather and stuff."

"You'd end the world, though," Mark pointed out.

Nikki shrugged. "You do insane things when you're bored. Actually... you'd do insane things if you were me. Which... speaking of insane things, I'm about to do something insane. So... DUCK!"

Emily, Mark, and Luke all ducked, as Nikki threw her half-eaten pear right at the ceiling.

"What was that for?" Mark demanded, standing upright again.

"Go turn 'round," Nikki said.

"But really," Mark snapped. "Why would you-"

"Mark, turn around," Emily replied hoarsely.

Mark turned around.

"What? I don't see anything," he said.

"That's the point," Nikki said. "You don't see any pears, do you?"

"What? I-" Mark froze. "No... I don't."

"Well, I do," Nikki said, walking past Luke. "Right here."

And just like that, Nikki vanished.

A pear rolled towards Luke's shoe.

Emily screamed.

"Ow," Nikki's voice came. "You need to scream quieter next time. Or... maybe, not scream at all. That would be nice."

"You're okay!" Emily said.

"Duh," Nikki replied.

"But... where are you?" Luke asked.

"Right here," Nikki said. Luke tried to turn in the direction of her voice.

"No, not there, here," Nikki said.

"Whoa," Luke said, going cross-eyed.

"It's a perception filter," Nikki explained. "Kind of makes you not think about stuff. Or not notice it. Depends. Try turning the other way, then looking at me through the corner of your eye."

Emily noticed it. "Oh, my God. That's what was dripping last night!"

"What- you saw that before?!" Mark asked, pointing at the thing behind Nikki.

"No," Emily said. "But... it was leaking through. To the kitchen roof. I saw it dripping, but the perception filter must've stopped me seeing it."

"That's a bit alarming, that we could miss something like that," Luke said, making a face.

In the centre of the room, right smack-dab behind from where Nikki was standing, was a huge machine of some sort. It was black and red with rust and obviously working, it was throbbing like some kind of a strange, twisted heart ripped from someone's chest.

"What does it do?" Luke asked.

"It works as one big perception filter. And, may I say, it's very clunky," Nikki said, giving it a good kick.

"I don't get it. Why would it be here? What purpose does it serve?" Mark asked.

"We-ell, it sort of controls the weather," Nikki said casually. "And... also blows up this place."

Emily paled.

"Which was why that alien didn't want us to find it," Nikki told her.

"We'd never be insane enough to blow this place," Emily assured her. Nikki shrugged.

"I guess it wasn't taking any chances," Mark noted.

"She," Nikki corrected. "It's she."

"Giving us a grammar lesson about the alien that's trying to kill us, eh?" Mark asked. Nikki ignored him.

"You know, you guys are aliens to me, too, if you haven't noticed. Now, then," she continued without a pause, "we need to figure out how to make it stop."

"Why?" Mark asked.

"It's... kind of like a thingy that does things that aren't very good," Nikki said, clapping her hands together.

"Can you speak English?" Mark asked, exasperated. Nikki shrugged.

"Sorry, I'm not giving any grammar lessons about the alien that's trying to kill us right now," she said coldly. "Call again later."

"This is serious," Emily piped up.

"Yep," Nikki said. "And I'm not."

Just then, Charlotte appeared, an apparition, in the doorway. "Bravo. You're very clever." she cocked her head to one side.

"Ah, brilliant!" Nikki said, jumping up cheerfully. "Good to see you in the flesh- well, er... uh... ghost. But why so shy? Step out of that poor person. It's way past her bedtime."

Charlotte laughed. "You think I'm stupid?"

"Actually, yes," Nikki replied.

Charlotte glared at Nikki. "You are not of this world."

"Really? I hadn't noticed!" Nikki said cheerfully.

"You are not anything," Charlotte said suddenly. Nikki's face fell.

"Oh, great, not this again," Nikki mumbled. "Look, did ya have to go and spoil it? You're making me mad. Watch it."

Charlotte chuckled, while Luke and the others watched on in puzzlement.

"You're more than you claim to be, aren't you?" Charlotte asked.

"Yep!" Nikki said, beaming. "I'm not really insane, I'm just pretending to be! Also, I'm the Queen of Sheba."

Charlotte glared at her. "You will leave here."

"Make me," Nikki shot back. "Which... is pretty hard to do. You'd have to be, like, my mom to do that. Or my dad," she added. "Or even badwol- I mean, a giant snake from Harry Potter to do that."

"What was she saying?" Emily whispered to Mark.

"I don't know," Mark admitted.

"Now, I'm willing to reason with you," Nikki continued. "Leave this place."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll make you," Nikki said, coldly. Then she beamed. "Sorry, I just wanted to say that really badly."

"I'm taking mental notes on her comebacks," Mark said with a wry grin. It was a bit amusing how cool and calm Nikki was in this situation.

"Taking notes... taking notes!" Luke suddenly shrieked. "Sarah Jane! The note, from this morning!"

"Can this wait? I'm busy being a total badcat over here," Nikki said, looking a bit exhausted.

"Sarah Jane left us a note this morning, she left," Luke said. "But what if she didn't leave?"

"What are you saying?" Mark asked.

"What if Charlotte did something to Sarah Jane, and possessed her to leave us a note, and the reason the writing was shaky was because she didn't have full control over her?" Luke wondered.

"But wouldn't she have to be related?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Nikki replied. "Unless..." her eyes widened. "She was under a lot of stress, or was experiencing heavy emotion. Bingo."

Her eyes locked on Charlotte, who scowled.

Then her lips peeled away into a manic grin. "Ah, very good." she began clapping, except there was no sound in the empty room. Her smile fell. "But if you wish to see her again, you'll-"

"Blah, blah, evil villain rant, yeah, we get it," Nikki said. "Look, I appreciate most evil villain rants, but yours just sucks. No offense. Get to the point, please."

"I'll offer you a deal," the being that was using Charlotte said. "If you leave this place and never, ever return, I will return Sarah Jane. If you refuse, however, I will put her under a spell and force her to jump off the west tower."

"Okay," Nikki said. "I refuse."

Mark and Emily started, but Luke pulled them back.

"But she will be killed," Charlotte said, and even in her garbled tone, there was just the slightest hint of nervousness.

"I don't really care," Nikki replied, shrugging casually. "I'm pretty evil too. So go ahead and do it."

"I will," Charlotte replied.

"Okay, go ahead," Nikki said.

"But, she's our mum!" Emily cried. "Luke, what are you doing?"

"I trust Nikki," Luke said.

"Yeah, I trust her to get mum killed!" Mark practically screamed.

"I really don't care," Nikki hissed, "about Sarah Jane. Not if it saves the lives of countless others."

Emily wrenched herself free of Luke's grip, marched up, and slapped Nikki in the face.

"All this time, I've trusted you! I though you were changing, but you're always going to be the same! Just another stupid evil villain!" she spat, each word like a venomous bite. "I TRUSTED YOU!"

With that last sentence, Charlotte let out an unearthly, wailing shriek, and everyone in the room instinctively clutched at their heads.

Then Charlotte vanished.

"Ow," Nikki said, holding her cheek. "That hurt. You didn't have to slap me that hard."

"What just happened?" Mark asked for what felt like the 500th time that day.

Nikki dusted herself off. "Oh, nothing much. Normal day. Blew Charlotte up, all that fun stuff."

"How?" Mark repeated.

"Easy," Nikki said. "She travels through telepathic fields and emotions. I enhance that by pissing Emily and you guys off, and her range spreads super far. Poof! She's atoms in the air. You're breathing her in right now."

Mark coughed.

"Uh... sorry," Emily said slowly. "I thought you were..."

"Gonna kill Sarah Jane? Nah," Nikki replied. "As much as I hater her, I really like her. Ow!"

She stumbled backwards a bit, holding a hand to her head. "Ooh, that didn't feel good." she shivered.

"Is something the matter?" Luke asked.

"Yes! No! Well, maybe. I'm not really sure," Nikki said. "Everything's kind of peanut butter and jam up here." she pointed to her head. "Wait, I meant to say jelly. Not jam."

"Seems to me like she's back to normal," Mark noted.

"Yep!" Nikki said. "I'm just gonna go poof myself away now. Bye!"

She grabbed for her remote, but Luke snatched it out of her hand.

"Not until you explain what's the matter with you," Emily said stubbornly.

"Oh, boy," Nikki muttered.

"No, we've got questions! You pop up here, say you're evil, then save our lives like 5,000 times, all the while, trying to end the world! So just tell us! Who are you?" Mark asked.

"Nikki the Slitheen," Nikki replied innocently.

"No, really," Mark said. "Because we've only seen you in this suit. And I'm starting to think that's your natural outer appearance, because we've never seen you unmask. Ever."

"Yep," Nikki said. "I'm actually that blue girl from Xmen and I can change my face to whatever I want it to. Or that diamond girl. She can do that too, can't she? Change her appearance, I mean."

"Seriously," Emily hissed. "Just tell us."

"Oh, look, Sarah Jane!" Nikki said.

Emily didn't turn around. "Nu-uh. I'm not taking my eyes off you, missy."

Nikki squirmed. "Well... I'm a Slitheen. Sort of. Well, I mean, I was. It's a bit complicated. And a long story."

"Good, because I've got plenty of time," Emily said.

"I'm a Slitheen," Nikki said. "I was sort of in this... machine thing. Let's just say it can travel in time a bit. And I sort of looked into the time vortex inside it. BAM! All these weird thingies kind of got into my head. So, in a way, it kinda turned me back to a kid. Except I had all these weird memories of everyone that had been in that machine for... well, forever, and it messed me up a bit. Get this... I'm a Time Lady!"

Everyone blinked.

"Nah, just kidding," Nikki continued. "I hate those fanfictions. But... it sort of did this thing to me. I'm super conflicted because I've got all these weird things going through my head. It's like 1,000 thoughts in here. And... I kind of got changed up a bit. I'm a bit like a chameleon, constantly changing my outer appearance... which I can't really help. And it sucks a lot. Tomorrow I could turn blue. And that's not as fun as it sounds."

"So... that's why sometimes I wanna end the world. And sometimes I like saving you guys. I can't decide whether I like you or want to kill you. Which sucks a bit. I think there's a bit of Dalek in here." she tapped her head, making a face.

"Anyway, there's my weird, botched-up life story. Happy now?" she glared at Emily. "Fine. Good. Bye." she grabbed the remote, and nobody made a move to stop her as it drizzled, then rained, then poured, and she vanished.

"Oo, wow, that's confusing," Mark said.

"Did you just understand a word she said?" Emily asked, exhasparated.

"I wish I didn't," Mark mumbled as he picked up his sonic pen from the ground and left the room with his brother and sister. "Let's go find Sarah Jane."

* * *

_**Woa, that was a LOOONG chapter. :D**_

_**Do leave a review and let us know how you like our characterizations of Mark, Luke, Nikki, and Emily. :D Thank you!**_


	25. Chapter 25

# FAMILY 23 #

**I own Emily's boyfriend**

* * *

"Em has a new boyfriend," Luke said Saturday afternoon. He and Maria were at the playground, sitting on the merry-go-round. The cloudy, windy day meant they had the place to themselves.

Luke didn't know if he liked Sean or not. He had met Sean briefly while he picked up Emily for her. He seemed nice enough, charming and pleasant, and he showed interest in Sarah Jane's journalist stories (the non alien ones), talked football with Mark, and seemed unfazed by Luke's curiosity about him, but there was something off about him. It was as if he were trying too hard be pleasant.

"Do you like him?" Maria asked, looking at Luke. He was easy to read, not having the experience of masking his feelings like most teenagers.

"I don't know," Luke replied truthfully.

Part of him knew he should like Sean, because he _was_ Emily's boyfriend, and Mark and Mum seemed to like him, but part of him didn't like him because he gave him a strange feeling, and he didn't like that feeling, it made him feel disloyal.

"Do you like Ivan?"

Maria shrugged. Sometimes she liked Ivan, other times, she hated him, especially when he was trying to be "Perfect Daddy" when she stayed over. It was maddening, but she kept quiet for her Mum. She supposed it was like that for Luke.

* * *

*ding dong*

The doorbell broke comfortable silence later that evening. Luke looked up from his book, wondering who would be calling.

Mum was in the attic, Mark was up in his room, and Emily was having a bath. Marking his place, he stood up and headed to the door, opening it to reveal Sean on the other side.

"Hi, Luke." Sean said.

Luke was just standing there, staring. He wasn't sure why Sean was here, Emily hadn't mentioned him coming over.

"Emily's busy," Luke said finally, when he found his voice.

"I came to see you, actually," Sean said.

"Me, why?" Luke asked confused.

"No reason, let's take a ride somewhere," Sean said. Luke looked back toward the house.

"I should tell Mum," he said, but Sean grabbed his arm.

"There's no need, you could borrow my mobile, and, anyway, we won't be gone that long," he assured.

Luke found himself nodding and heading towards Sean's car.

* * *

Luke knew something was very wrong when after two hours Sean was still driving away from Ealing and showing no signs of turning around. His personality had also changed.

Gone was the pleasant Sean, instead a surly, silent Sean had appeared the first time Luke had asked why they weren't going home. Sean had smacked him, barking at him to shut up.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked.

"I said shut up!" Sean yelled, twitching as he gripped the steering wheel.

Luke would have said something else, but then he spotted the gun near Sean. He would use it, he kept quiet, instead, planning his escape. He didn't know what Sean was up to and that scared him.

The doors were locked with a child lock on all the doors except the driver's side, so that way was out of the question.

Sean slowed down, pulling into the drive of a rundown. THe minute the door was unlocked, Luke threw open the door, knocking Sean to the ground, and took off running.

Cursing, Sean leaned into the car, grabbing the gun and a bottle of chloroform and a rag and took off after the boy, easily catching up with Luke. He overtook him, pressing the soaked rag to his face, smiling in satisfaction as he went limp and his eyes fluttered closed.

He dragged his limp body to the cottage. A little girl with black hair answered the door, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"You better not have killed him, Mummy and Daddy will be really angry."

"Course not, I just drugged him," Sean said, dumping Luke unceremoniously onto the living room floor.

The little girl licked her lips, showing sharp little fangs as a man and woman came into the room.

"Mummy, Daddy, may I eat him please?" She begged, kneeling next to Luke.

"Of course not, your brother brought him to us so he could fix our ship, you may eat him afterwards." the man said, they all laughed.

"Oh, look, he's waking up," the woman cooed.

Luke struggled to sit up, his head pounding. He had no idea where he was, just that he was in what looked like a normal living room, but there was something not right about it.

"Where am I?" He asked, looking around. To his confusion, they started laughing, and it wasn't a kind laugh, it was a cruel, evil laugh.

"Your sister was so pathetic, so stupid, she actually thought I liked her, she didn't even think it was odd I was asking so many questions about you," Sean said.

Luke struggled to his feet, stumbling towards the door. "I don't... I don't understand. Why?" He asked.

"God, for someone so smart, you are stupid. We're aliens, and you're going to repair our ship, then we're going to eat you," Sean said.

"You can't be, Mum scanned you," Luke said, shaking his head. He was dizzy, the room spinning in circles.

Sean ripped a black bracelet off his arm, as did his parents and little sister.

Where four ordinary humans had once stood, now were four creatures that looked like they had come from a horror movie. They looked like gigantic insects, with the head of a praying mantis, the body of a ant, and the legs of a spider.

Luke stared in horror, eyes widening as he backed up, bumping into the table, trying to reach the door. Unfortunately, Sean, or at least he thought it was Sean, out of their human disguises they looked the same, it could have been any of them, was there before he reached it.

"Escape is out of the question, so don't bother trying," it said.

"What makes you think I want to help you?" Luke asked with more bravery than he felt. He was knocked off his feet, pinned down by several sharp, heavy legs.

The smallest of the creatures scuttled over, leaning over Luke as a long glistening stream of saliva hung from her mandible. It dropped on his arm and he screamed in pain as it burned and sizzled.

"My sister's saliva is poisonous. It won't kill you, but it's extremely painful, if you refuse she'll do it again, and much more," Sean said, changing into his human form, glaring at him.

Luke stared at him, holding his arm, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Sean simply smirked, gesturing for Luke to follow him out of the room and into the back garden.

* * *

The space ship was hidden in the shed. Fixing it would be easy, unfortunately, it also meant the sooner he fixed it, the sooner Sean and his family would kill him, and Luke was scared. No one knew where he was, and he had no way of contacting them.

He huddled in the corner of the shed, allowing himself to cry.

* * *

**you know the drill**


	26. Chapter 26

_**This is Sam! Hullo! Who's gonna get Luke out of this pickle?**_

_**...Actually, I don't know yet. All these author notes are written before I start the chapter. So I guess everyone will just have to wait and see.**_

* * *

Luke huddled himself into a corner of the room, staring with disgust at the spaceship. It was horrifyingly crude. Too easy to fix.

He looked up at the ceiling. There were no windows. Hardly any tools. Yes, the spaceship would be easy to fix, if he actually _had_ any materials to begin with.

The door creaked open and Luke slightly jumped, staring at the figure in the doorway with a raw, unnerving fear.

"I need... I need tools," he said. "I can't fix this with my bare hands."

His voice was as steady and cool as he could muster.

"I'm not supposed to give you anything," the little girl said.

"Well, then, I guess you won't be going back home," Luke replied. The little girl looked at him thoughtfully.

"I could eat you, you know," she said.

"Well, you could, but imagine how angry your parents and brother would be," Luke said. The little girl looked at the floor.

"I don't like you," she said.

"The feeling's mutual," Luke replied coolly. "If you come back here with tools for me, I'll fix your machine and you can go home. And... eat me." he delivered the last bit hesitantly.

"Are you lying?" the little girl cocked her head to the side.

"No," Luke said as simply as he could, feigning an expression of innocence. He didn't know where this had come from, but he had to keep it up, because he could tell it was working.

"I'm not stupid," the little girl finally said. "I'm more than 400 years old. And I'm no little girl," she added. "So... tough luck. Do it with your hands."

She skipped out of the room, leaving Luke with an aghast expression on his face.

He cradled his arm after the room was shut in finite silence and pulled his legs up to his chest.

"Please let someone find me," he whispered. "Let... Clyde. With his teasing. His jokes. Or Mark. With his quips and snarkiness. Maria. She can't forget me. Let Emily find me."

He looked up, hearing rain. "Or... Nikki." he jumped up.

There was a flash of thunder from outside. Oh. A real storm. His shoulders sagged and he fell back to the floor. "It doesn't matter now... there's no way she could get here even if she knew I was here... she can't travel in actual storms."

The door flew open and Sean stormed in. "Jeanette said you wanted tools."

"Well, this ship isn't going to fix itself," Luke said.

Sean's gaze lightened, for a moment. "Good," he said. "So you're actually using that brain of yours. Here." he dumped a wrench on the floor. Luke looked up.

"Jeanette- that's your little sister's name, right?" Sean nodded. "She said she's over 400 years old," Luke said.

"Our age is none of your concern," Sean snapped, infuriated.

"But it is," Luke interjected. "Because if you're that old, your race should've developed further. Only the higher species lives that long. So why don't you fix your own ship? It's easy enough."

"It's too small," Sean said.

"But I don't get it, it's just a simple- oh," Luke said, as realization hit him. "That's not your spaceship. You stole it. And... it's too old for you to know how to use. Your technology is way advanced."

Sean hissed. "Yes. And you're going to fix it."

"Why? What are you planning to do with it?" Luke wondered. "You might as well tell me, if you're going to eat me, anyway," he added. "And... it might contribute to my fixing it."

Sean smiled. "It's a medship. Filled with nanogenes. Do you know what nanogenes are, Luke?"

Luke shook his head no.

"Nanogenes are these teeny little robots," Sean said, kneeling so he was at Luke's height. "And they fix up people. But... program them to fix people to a different appearance and... WHAM! Physiology changes. After our planet was lost- we're the only four of us in existence- our goal is to unleash the nanogenes onto Earth and turn it into Shallacatop 2."

"But... how would you lose a planet?" Luke wondered. "Is that even possible?"

"Shut up," Sean snapped. "And fix our ship. You'd better be finished with it by morning, or you'll regret it."

"Will I?" Luke quipped. Sean ignored him and left the room.

Nanogenes. Lost planet. Shallacatop 2. Okay, so that probably meant that their home planet was Shallacatop. Nanogenes... Sarah Jane had mentioned those, before. So it was definitely stolen tech.

Lost planet. How do you lose a planet?

Luke looked back at the ship. There was no way he was going to fix it, but how was he going to get out of this situation?

He looked back outside. It was still storming. He didn't know why he expected Nikki to come around, but... she always did. She popped up whenever. Why wasn't she here when he really needed her?

* * *

Morning broke and Luke still hadn't touched the ship.

"Good morning, good morning," Sean sang as he walked into the shed. "How did you sleep- I mean, work, last night?"

"Perfectly well!" Luke said.

(Think, think, think, Luke. How would Nikki get out of this situation? She gets out of everything. Think like Nikki.)

"Well, I didn't sleep. But I learned that it's boring sitting in here, staring at walls. It's a nice wall you have, you know." he surprised himself with his bout of insanity, but didn't stop. "Where did you get this shed? I like sheds. This shed is very nice, you know. Sheddy sheds. Do sheds shed their skin?"

"What are you doing?" Sean asked, watching Luke with adept interest.

"I don't really know! AAH! Don't! That sounds like donut. I'm so hungry, you know. I don't think I'll get any work done today without any food. You should feed me. Food sounds nice. Yep, food. Food. Go get food."

"I don't know what game you're playing, but if you're trying to trick me, you won't succeed," Sean snapped, leaning down and grabbing Luke's face, staring into his eyes.

"Trick? I'm not playing tricks. Trick or treat? Ooh, a game. Games are nice. I like games. They're fun."

Sean left the room to go get Luke food.

As soon as Sean was out of sight, Luke sighed in relief. Being insane... was surprisingly tiring.

He reached into his pocket and smiled. Bingo. He'd swiped the phone off of Sean while he was distracted.

He dialed the first number he could think of. Emily.

"Emily," he whispered.

"Sean?"

"No, it's Luke."

"Hi, Luke. Where are you? You've been out all night, Mum's been worried sick," Emily said. Luke jumped, turning down the speaker.

"There's... I don't know where I am," Luke whispered. "It's... Sean. Sean kidnapped me. I don't have much time. You need to get here, Emily. Use Mr. Smith to trace my location. I-"

Sean stormed into the room and grabbed the phone from Luke. "Oh, hey, Emily," he said as causally as he could, turning up the speaker as loudly as he could. "Luke stayed over at my place for the night. I took him to the... arcade. Didn't he tell you? No? Oh, sorry. He said you said it was okay. What? That's absurd. I'm sure he was just playing some sort of game with you. He does do that often, you said so. Oh, hahaha. I'll see you later. I love you. Bye."

Luke glared at Sean. "She's going to find out," he said as confidently as he could.

"I highly doubt it," Sean snapped, slamming the cell phone shut. "But... you, my friend, are in an awful lot of trouble."

Luke shivered. "You're not going to win."

"We'll see about that."

(Gosh, Nikki would have a field day with this guy.)

"But it's a fact," Luke argued. "You convert the entire human race to whatever you are, and then what? It'll change them into you, yes, but they'll still think the same way. They'll destroy themselves, seeing what you've turned them into."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Sean said. "There's plenty of planets out there."

"Maybe so," a voice said from behind him, "but we're protecting this one."

Sean turned around. "Emily? What are you doing here?" his cold facade slipped as he pretended.

"Emily!" Luke screamed. "Watch out! He's a..."

The word didn't come. He couldn't say it. He didn't know what Sean was.

"Luke doesn't know what he's talking about," Sean said. "Honestly."

"I might've believed that before your sister tried to bite my face off," Emily said, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you escape her?" Sean hissed.

"This great thing called a mirror," Emily said. "Mr. Smith identified you. Shallarians from the planet Shallacatop. And..." she shuddered. "I'm not 'fraid to use this on you. Don't give me that look. I know concentrated light will kill you."

"Emily," Luke started, but Emily cut him off.

"Later, Luke," Emily said, offering a halfhearted smile. "I'm a bit busy. Sean, I'll give you an offering. Go home, or else I'll use this." she held up the mirror.

"All right," Sean said, surprising both. "I'll go home." he hissed. "Wait, I forgot. I'm already on it!"

He ripped off his bracelet, reverting back to his original form.

"Sean, don't make me," Emily pleaded. "Come on."

"I'll die for my cause," Sean said. "Will you die for yours?"

"Sean, please," Emily said. "I'll do it."

"Then do it," Sean snapped, his voice garbled.

"Goodbye, Sean," Emily said, surprising the alien, holding up a mirror.

There was a loud, wailing sound, then Sean evaporated into dust.

"Luke," Emily said, coughing. "Are you all right?"

"I could ask you the same," Luke said, sadly staring at the pile of ashes on the ground where Sean had been standing.

"Let's go home," Emily finally said. "Sarah Jane's nearly gone mad with worry."

Luke nodded, never lifting his eyes from the rain outside.


	27. Chapter 27

# Family 22 #

* * *

"Mum's not here."

Emily rolled over, opening one eye to see Luke standing there, a frantic expression on his face.

She looked at her clock. It was half past seven.

She groaned.

"Maybe she went to the shops," she said. "Incidentally, why did you wake me up? Mark's older. You should've woken him."

"I tried, he threw his pillow at me, and said if I woke him up again, I would regret it," Luke admitted. Mark was not a morning person, if he was forced to be up before what he considered a decent hour, he was a grouch most of the day.

Emily sighed. "It's probably nothing. Mum probably went to the shops or something."

Luke shook his head, that's what he had thought at first when she saw her car gone, but her bed hadn't been slept in, it was still cold to the touch.

"No, she didn't come home last night," Luke said.

"Go downstairs, I'm going to wake up Mark." Emily swung her feet out of bed, shooing Luke out of her room.

Luke headed downstairs and into the front room. He turned the TV on, a newswoman gazed at the camera, her eyes wide as she reported people going missing all around the greater London area.

The screen changed, and they were outside with a newsman who was interviewing a young woman in a red dressing gown, her voice was trembling as she spoke. "My boyfriend went out last night, but he never came home, at first I thought... well, I don't know what I thought, it just isn't like him." She shuddered.

Solemnly, the anchorman turned to the camera. "There you have it, another missing person. Is there an innocent explanation, or is it something more sinister?"

"Luke?" Emily and Mark came entered the front room.

Luke turned to look at them. "I don't think Mum went to the shops," he said. "On the news, it seems that other people have gone missing."

"Okay, if we didn't know what we do, about aliens and stuff, I'd say it was just a coincidence, but as Mum says there's no such thing as coincidences," Mark said.

"So Mum missing and everyone else missing, they're connected?" Emily asked.

"But how?" Luke asked. Suddenly, a terrible thought struck him. What if Clyde and Maria and their parents were gone too? What if it was just the three of them?

Luckily, before he could panic, there was a frantic knock on the door. Emily went to answer, coming back with Maria in tow.

"I saw it on the news," she said breathlessly. "The missing people, does Sarah Jane know?"

"Mum isn't here, she never came home last night," Luke told her. Maria dropped onto the sofa.

"What do you think happened?" she asked.

"We don't know, but..." Mark started, but was interrupted by the arrival of Clyde coming in. He looked 'round the group.

"If I knew this was going to be a slumber party, I would have kept my pjs on too," he grinned.

All four of them were in pajamas, Maria had been too excited to change, and, well, the others were worried about Sarah Jane.

"Did you see the news?" Clyde asked.

There were nods all around, then Clyde asked, "so what are we going to do?

* * *

An hour later, they were gathered in the attic. Mr. Smith was scanning for alien activity, but had found nothing so far.

"Look again," Mark urged.

"It's raining," Luke observed. He was standing at the window.

"We don't need a weather report, Lukey-boy," Clyde said.

Luke turned to them, brow furrowed. "Every time it's rained, Nikki shows up."

They looked around, as if expecting the strange girl to pop out of the shadows.

"I have discovered a small alien disturbance, there was a biodamper blocking it the first time," Mr. Smith said.

"Right, we're going to get to the bottom of this," Mark said, digging in his pocket for his car keys. "Anyone want to take a ride?"

Several minutes later, they were piled into Mark's car, headed towards town.

The town wasn't as crowded as it normally was, especially for a weekend on Halloween.

They started asking around if anyone had seen anything odd. However, most people either were too scared to talk, which meant they did see something, or else they thought they were playing some trick, and were threatened with telling them off to the police, or parents, or both.

"Well, that was useless," Emily sighed. They were sitting in a cafe, cups of tea and untouched plates of food surrounding them.

"They must think we're crazy," Mark muttered.

"Well, asking if you saw people vanish is a bit odd," Maria pointed out, taking a sip of her tea.

"I think some people did see something. Though that couple we talked to, the girl seemed genuinely frightened, but her boyfriend wouldn't let her speak," Clyde replied.

Then he noticed Luke. He was bent over a game console, fiddling with it.

"Luke, is this really the time to try to beat my high score?" Clyde asked, indicating the handheld game console in Luke's hand.

Luke barely looked up as he answered, "I'm not playing, I rewired it and hooked it up to Mr. Smith."

"You could do that?" Clyde looked impressed.

"What he do?" Emily asked from the front.

"Made a portable," Maria answered. "He rewired his game console."

"Can you patch into him?" Mark asked.

"I need a minute, but, yes," Luke said, turning the game off, then on. "Mr. Smith, I need you."

The familiar fanfare music filled the car as the screen lit up.

"You added the music too, nice touch," Mark said, rolling his eyes.

Luke ignored him. "Mr. Smith, can you patch into the CCTV network and see if you notice anything unusual?"

They waited a minute.

"There was a storm and everyone outside... look!" Luke passed around the console. "They disappeared, bam! Right into thin air! Everyone in the rain... vanished!"

* * *

**Scarlet coming to you next,**


	28. Chapter 28

"It's... rain," Luke said, staring at the screen. "It's raining, and that's what's causing the people to vanish."

"It's Nikki," Emily declared. "I mean, it's got to be. Who else has rain that makes people disappear?" she fingered the dark black band around her wrist.

"She did say she stole the same technology that was used to make that hospital disappear," Mark pointed out. "Maybe it's the same people as then. I mean, think about it. Nikki's remote is tiny. It can probably only cover a small range. But a hospital's huge. So if they made the hospital vanish, then don't you think they could make a large number of people around the UK vanish?"

Emily shook her head. "It... doesn't add up. They made a hospital vanish, yeah, but... this made people vanish. It didn't affect the people who were at home." she paced back and forth in front of Mr. Smith. "Maybe Nikki used something to transmit whatever that field she uses to teleport across the state."

"I don't get it," Clyde finally said. "Why would she want to teleport random people? What is she getting from this? And... where would she teleport them to?"

"She might be trying to end the world," Luke pointed out, slowly. "She does it often."

"If I was going to end the world, I'd just blow it up," Clyde said.

"I'll keep you away from the dynamite, then," Emily mumbled. "Y'know, Nikki might actually be in it for something this time. Maybe she wants everyone around the world to panic."

"She hates chaos," Luke pointed out. "But... she does have fun messing with our heads," he realized.

"She's playing a game," Maria said. "Definitely."

"Then why hasn't she shown up, yet?" Emily wondered. "I mean... normally, by this point, when we work everything out, she pops out of the bushes or something. Besides, she'd want to evilly rant about her brilliance to us. So why would she stay in the shadows? If she was just in this for fun, that's exactly what she would do."

Everyone looked around the car. "I don't think she's going to pop out from under the car seats, Emily," Clyde said as Emily looked under the seats.

Emily shrugged. "I was just checking. You never know with her. Although... a while back, she said she could shapeshift. So... either she's turned back into a Slitheen and is scared we've got vinegar... or she's a mouse."

Clyde paused. "Well, how cheesy would that be?"

Maria elbowed him. "Half the British population's gone missing, this isn't any time to be making puns. And bad puns, at that."

"Just trying to brighten the mood," Clyde replied, putting his hands up in the air in defeat.

"Question is, how do we get to her?" Emily wondered. "I mean, if you were a Slitheen and pretty much everything else in the universe, where would you hide?"

"A black hole," Clyde replied.

"What Clyde said," Mark said.

"In the closet," Maria suggested.

"Guys, we don't even know if it's Nikki," Luke said. "I mean, it could be someone else. She hasn't done anything evil for ages. Don't you feel a bit bad, suspecting her so easily? Maybe someone's done something bad with her, and the reason they're using the rain is because they're trying to frame her. That's why she isn't coming 'round, she's been kidnapped. And instead of going to find her, we're sitting here, bickering."

"Say that is the case," Mark spoke slowly. "Then why would someone with such great power, enough to take out all of Britain, want to trick us?"

"We save the world a lot," Maria pointed out. "We could be considered some kind of threat."

"If we were a threat, they wouldn't be playing games with us. They'd just blow us up. I'm sorry, Luke, but I'm pretty sure it's Nikki," Emily said.

Luke looked down at his feet.

"So... what do we do now?" Maria asked, after an awkward silence. "I mean, we haven't got any means to go find Nikki. And even if we could, we don't know how to stop her. Sarah Jane's gone, there's no one to help us."

Mark looked up. "Yes, there is. Hang on, you lot. I've got a very important friend to meet."

* * *

Madeline stormed down to front door of her apartment. "What the hell took you so long? I ordered that pizza five hours ag-"

She froze in mid-sentence, realizing who exactly was at her door. "Luke? Mark? What are you all doing here?"

"Nikki's ending the world," Emily blurted. "She made everyone disappear with rain."

"Oh," Madeline looked mildly surprised. She shrugged. "Well, it was only a matter of time before she did, I mean, she's been so tranquil lately. 'Course she picked Halloween to do it."

"Can you help us find her?" Mark asked.

"I don't really know," Madeline said. "I must say, it is odd. She didn't leave a note."

"She leaves you notes when she goes and ends the world?" Maria asked incredulously.

Madeline shrugged. "You sort of get used to it, hanging around her."

"Okay, then," Maria said.

"Come in," Madeline said, nodding behind her.

The group followed Madeline into the apartment. As she walked, she picked up pieces of paper on the floor. "Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors."

"Who are you, anyway?" Clyde wondered. "I've never met you before."

"Madeline. Hiya," Madeline said, not bothering to turn around from the paper she was picking up. "I work for UNIT."

"You're friends with Nikki and you work for UNIT..." Maria said, after a moment.

"Yeah," Madeline replied.

"How does that work out, exactly?" Maria contemplated as Madeline straightened three papers on the wooden arm of the couch, then laid them out on the kitchen table. "I mean, if you're the good guy, why do you hang out with Nikki?"

"I could ask you the same," Madeline noted. "All right." she leaned over and opened up her laptop bag, dragging out a small computer and opening it up. Everyone watched as the screen flickered to life. She typed in her password, then opened a window.

"What are you doing?" Mark wondered, watching as the mouse darted around the screen. Madeline's fingers came to life, typing at what seemed 1000 words per minute.

"Hacking Nikki's cell phone," Madeline responded. "She takes it with her everywhere."

"Does she know you can trace it?" Maria asked, just as a red error screen came up on the computer.

"Oh, shoot!" Madeline said. "She blocked me!"

"She's keepin' you from hacking your phone, and you're surprised?" Clyde asked incredulously.

"Actually, yes. She likes me to know where she is when she's out ending the world," Madeline explained.

"You're talking about the end of the world like it's normal," Clyde said.

"Well, she can't actually end the world," Madeline told him. "Has she told you that she's sort of a mix of everything yet?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah."

"Mix of what?" Clyde asked.

"Well, Nikki's sort of... like... Luke, a bit. She's kind of like a huge collage, although the base is Slitheen. She's constantly changing her appearance as she grows- although she can't really help it. It's just sort of in her really messed up genetic makeup. So... all these different thoughts and ideas and perspectives are running through her head all the time. Which is why she wants to end the world and save the world, off and on," Madeline explained.

"Oh," Clyde said. "That... makes a lot of sense."

"But the thing is, I think she's got enough good in her where she won't go so far as to actually kill everyone," Madeline said, still working on the computer. "You said she made people disappear with rain?" she asked Emily.

Emily nodded. "Yeah. Do you think they're... dead?"

"Nah," Madeline said, and Emily breathed a sigh of relief.

"Has she been acting weird lately?" Clyde asked.

"Excuse me, this is Nikki we're talking about," Madeline said. "She's always acting weird."

Luke's head was spinning. "But... how can it possibly be her? There isn't any way she could harness that much power. She has such a small remote."

"Good point," Madeline said, "but think of it this way. Split an atom in half, and... BOOM! There goes the universe. I don't really think size matters, at this point."

"That's true," Emily said. "Mum talked about how the Doctor used to travel in time and space in a phone box, saving the universe."

"A phone box... really?" Clyde made a face. "I mean, I've been in the TARDIS, but why a phone box? And... a police phone box, at that. Not a red one."

"Can we focus?" Luke asked, turning back to Madeline. "What are you doing now?"

"Playing Solitaire," Madeline deadpanned. "I'm looking for traces of alien tech around."

Luke shook his head. "We ran plenty of scans with Mr. Smith. We found nothing."

"Maybe so, but I know how to pinpoint her location, even when she's using a biodamper- aha!" Madeline beamed. "Found her!"

"Where is she?" Luke asked.

"On Mars," Madeline teased. "Just joking. She's 2 blocks west of where we're sitting. Come on. I'll go get my coat."

"You're coming with us?" Maria asked.

"Uh, duh," Madeline replied.

* * *

"I don't get it," Madeline said. "She should be here."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Really? Dead end?" she tapped the edge of her black bracelet.

The group had reached the location where Nikki was supposed to be. The old warehouse. Which... would've been a good thing, had Nikki actually been there.

"I thought she was supposed to come and stalk us," Clyde mumbled. "Turns out we're the stalkers now."

"Don't worry about it," Maria said. "I'm sure you were already a stalker before this incident."

There was a short pause. And then, "all right, she's here."

Everyone turned to Luke. "What?"

"She has to be here," Luke said, examining the old warehouse. "She's probably just hiding somewhere. Let's go and have a look."

Madeline began poking around on shelves, and Emily dropped to the floor to look under desks for anything out of the ordinary. Mark and Clyde rummaged on tables and Maria checked in drawers.

Luke walked over to a bookshelf.

"I don't think you're gonna find her in a bookshelf, mate," Clyde teased.

"Nikki hates stereotypes, but she also enjoys using them on other people," Luke commented. "So if I know her well enough, one of these books, once pulled back, will probably open the wall or something."

"That's just silly," Clyde scoffed. "That makes it too easy."

Mark nodded. "It might be a trap of some sort."

Luke shrugged. "If it saves 1,000 people, I don't really mind getting trapped."

He started pulling down random books.

About ten minutes later, he'd cleared the shelf, and he sighed. "I guess I was wrong," he mumbled, giving the shelf a good kick.

And it flipped around.

"Whoa!" Clyde said. "I want one of those for my room!"

And on the other side...

"Hello!" Nikki said, cheerfully. "How's your day going?"

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" Luke asked.

"Everyone's vanished!"

"My pizza came late!"

"It's raining outside!"

"How did you transmit it so large?"

"Why would you want to make people vanish?"

"Yeah, what's your motive?"

"SHH!" Nikki yelled.

Everybody shushed.

"Okay, that's better," Nikki said, beaming. "Welcome to my one-hundred and third attempt to end the world."

"She's been counting," Madeline told them.

"Yep," Nikki said, popping the p. "All right, then. So, to answer your questions. Yes, everyone vanished. Yes, Madeline, your pizza always comes late. It is raining outside, good observation, you should be a weatherman. I transmitted Molly's stuff so large by hooking it up to my spaceship. I want to make people vanish because... actually, I don't know why. I don't think I have a motive, except for ending the world. Anything else?"

"Nikki, you don't have to do this," Luke said. "You're better than this."

"If you're going to start the "you're better than this speech", then hurry it up, because I want to do my evil villain rant now," Nikki said, making a face. "I mean, ending the world is so much fun. You should give it a try. Come on. I'm so good, I'm, like, bad! Wait... I meant that the other way around. Whoopsies. Can I start again?"

"Where did you put everybody?" Clyde demanded.

"I wanted to prank the Doctor, so I put them in his TARDIS," Nikki said. "Ha! Just kidding. I put them in the computer's drive." she shrugged.

"Why there?" Emily asked.

"Easy storage," Nikki replied.

"But... those are people! And you stuck them in a computer!" Mark said.

"Yeah, I know, I was there," Nikki told him. "You're getting awfully repetitive, did you know that?"

"How the heck did you build that computer?" Madeline interjected, pointing at the looming thing on the wall.

"Easy," Nikki said. "I just rewired the circuits and bionetically dimenthylichanbered the clietery chip of an Apple computer."

"That's not easy," Madeline said. "That's very hard."

"It is easy. Well, it's easy if you know how to rewire circuits. Which... I don't really know how to do. So... it was kind of hard for me," Nikki admitted.

"How long have you been planning this for, exactly?" Madeline asked, crossing her arms.

"Since..." Nikki counted on her fingers. "Three months ago." she ignored the aghast expression on Luke's face. "What? Doing evil things takes a while to achieve!"

"I don't get it," Luke said. "Why make us disappear?"

Nikki shrugged. "I don't want to tell you, for fear of you ruining my plan... but I also want to, because I want to brag." she put on a smug grin. "Think about it this way. Ordinary day, right? Earth's loaded. Air. Minerals. Water. Sun. I can't kill anybody, because I think that nice side of me won't let the evil side of me do so, but I can still teleport everyone out of Earth, store them in a computer, then sell the Earth. A whole planet. A whole new world!"

"But... that's... so evil!" Luke exclaimed.

Nikki beamed. "I know, right?"

"We're going to stop you," Maria informed her. "We've stopped you before."

"Oh, come on," Nikki said, rolling her eyes. "Can I just end the world once? Just one time? Then I promise I'll leave you all alone! I won't even bother you again!"

"That may or may not be the worst compromise I have ever heard," Madeline said, crossing her arms.

"Don't tell me you're siding with them," Nikki groaned.

"Actually, I am," Madeline said.

"But you're supposed to be on my side!" Nikki exclaimed.

"I'm on your side when you're being good. When you're ending the world..." Madeline shrugged. "Not so much."

"Touché," Nikki said. "Now, then..." she pressed a few buttons. "Containment vortexes!"

"How did I know that was gonna happen?" Mark mumbled.

"Hmm. Do you guys know how to get people out of their houses?" Nikki asked.

"Why would you want to get them out of their houses?" Emily wondered. "What?" she asked, looking at the glance Mark was giving her. "It's a valid question!"

"We-ell, the thing is, my teleport is kinda weak, so it's kind of concentrated on most life forms," Nikki said. "Which... is sort of blocked out by stuff. So I think the last human on Earth, after I get everyone out, might be the guy hiding in a trash can, or the kid under the bed."

"Non-animate objects block the signal," Luke said, making a mental note. "You said once that places with storms also interfered with your remote."

"Yep," Nikki said. "Pretty much. So if you're in a hurricane, it's your lucky day! I bet not many people can say that," she added.

"You can't do that! It's not fair!" Emily shouted. She felt like a kid again, whining about having to stay home sick, or missing a day at the park.

"Take a chill pill, dude," Nikki replied. "And stop being stupid. Even though I know you probably can't help it."

"Wait," Luke said. "Can't rain or weather reverse the effects of your remote? So what if it rains all over the world?"

"Then everyone'd come back," Nikki said. "But in an hour, I'll have gotten rid of that problem. My computer- her name is Amanda- is working on fixing that."

"Okay. That's all I need to know," Luke said.

"Huh?" Nikki asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Mr. Smith, containment vortex, now!" he yelled. A blue, cylindrical force field appeared around Nikki.

"What the hey?!" Nikki shouted. "Where were you hiding a computer that size?"

Luke held up a game console. "Here. Rewired him to operate in this little game console. The only time the arcade has ever been useful," he said, smiling in Clyde's direction.

"Wow," Madeline said, clapping her hands. "Bravo!"

"I had a chance to look over that bit of technology in that old mansion we visited," Luke said. "I can hook it up to Nikki's machine and transmit it all over the world, returning people back to their rightful places."

"Geez," Nikki mumbled. "I need to fix that fault, next time."

Emily smiled. "You're not going to fix it."

"Huh?" Luke asked.

"Correction; you're not going to need to fix it," she said, snapping her fingers. The vortex fell away.

Clyde's mouth dropped open. "Whoa."

"Yep," Emily said, mimicking Nikki's voice.

"Hey!" Nikki exclaimed. "That's my thing! Back off!"

"Emily, what are you doing?" Mark cried as Emily dashed over to the main controls, punching buttons.

"Ending the world," Emily said coolly.

"That's my job!" Nikki exclaimed.

"But... you're returning everyone back to Earth," Luke said. "Why are you doing that?"

"You're very gullible, aren't you?" Emily laughed. She reached into Luke's containment vortex and snatched Mr. Smith out of his hands, crushing it under her foot.

"You-" Luke stared in shock at Mr. Smith, lying in broken pieces on the ground. He knew the real Mr. Smith was okay, but it was still a bit unorthodox to see the little smashed console in bits.

"Why don't you fix it," Emily sneered. "With your hands?"

Luke went cold. "What did you just say?"

The creature that was not Emily paced back and forth. "You humans, so tiny, seem to forget the fact that those who reign from Shallacatop are creatures that can take seed in any living organism. Praying mantis? Easy. Giant ant? Give me a challenge." she chuckled.

"Ooh," Nikki said, making a face. "That's pretty nasty."

"Shut up, Slitheen," Emily snapped.

"Well, I'm half Slitheen," Nikki said. "And then the rest of pretty much everything else. Although I do like my human form. It's very nice."

Emily ripped off the black bracelet she'd had on her arm, erupting into her full form.

"Oh... okay," Madeline said. "Uh... find my happy place. Find my happy place."

Nikki just seemed excited by this sudden transformation. "Wow, that's so cool!" she said. "Although... that bracelet is very ugly. And I've always wondered how you get that back on. You haven't got any hands, have you?"

The creature hissed.

"I don't get what's going on here," Clyde finally squeaked.

"And you won't live to find out," the creature snapped.

"Really?" Nikki asked. "You're killing us already? Or eating us? Or whatever it's called."

The creature almost smirked. "I must thank you. You've already done half the work."

"Wow, thanks!" Nikki said. "Although... you seem to have forgotten the fact that Amanda- she's my ex girlfriend and also my computer, still belongs to me. And since I'm slightly telepathic..." she tapped her head. "I can give her commands telepathically. So I did give her a command. One which makes her release Luke from his containment vortex. And... allows him to easily pull the plug on my machine, like... that!"

The lights flickered out.

"Let's hope they don't have nightvision," Madeline mumbled.

"But... don't Shallarians thrive in the dark?" Luke wondered as Nikki released everyone else from the containment vortexes, as the creature that was not Emily wailed very loudly. "Light is what kills them."

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" Nikki sang. "Uh, sorry. Right. Well, I'm gonna do this now. Computer! Do the thingy ma bobber that does things!"

A hatch on the roof opened, where a tiny little gem sat. The light from the sun glinted, and-

Emily fell to the floor, unconscious.

"There we go," Nikki said. "She should be fine."

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"I was trying to figure out how to grow crystals," Nikki said, shrugging. "Which... actually came in handy, a bit."

"You're not gonna end the world now, are you?" Mark asked.

"Even if I wanted to, and don't get me wrong, I do, I couldn't, because Luke sort of fried Amanda," Nikki said.

"What's up with you and your girlfriends?" Clyde wondered. "I mean, no offense or anything, but it's just that... they're all computers."

"Molly's okay," Nikki noted, grabbing the remote control. "Good. And..." she glared at Clyde. "I can completely have a lesbian computer and a lesbian remote control as a girlfriend if I want to. You're not allowed to object."

"Okay, okay," Clyde said, putting his arms up in defeat. Maria stifled a laugh, watching their exchange with wry amusement.

"Ooh, biodamper," Nikki said, grabbing the black bracelet off the ground. "Cool. I'll add it to my collection."

"Hey... didn't Mr. Smith say earlier he was detecting aliens but it was hidden by a biodamper?" Maria wondered.

"Yeah, he did," Mark noted. "I guess that was Emily." he made a face. "Yuck. I'd hate to be a grasshopper thing."

"I'm just gonna leave now," Nikki said.

"Why don't you come for dinner or something?" Luke asked. "Sarah Jane's working on her cooking this week."

"No thanks. I've seen Sarah Jane cook," Nikki told him.

"Ah," Luke said.

"See ya 'round!" Nikki said. "And... if you're gonna try to foil my evil plan, then at least have the patience to wait for me to actually make one!"

She pressed a button, then vanished.

"Hey!" Madeline said. "She forgot me!"

A pause.

"Darn," Madeline mumbled. "That's the fourth time this week."


	29. Chapter 29

# Family 23 #

* * *

"What are you doing today?" Sarah Jane asked Mark and Luke (Emily was still upstairs).

It was a Saturday morning, over breakfast, and everyone was sitting 'round the table, but before they could answer, there was a knock on the door.

Mark, who was at the counter, headed for the door. "I'll get it, I was expecting Todd to come by," he said, heading for the door.

It wasn't Todd who stood in the doorway, but a man with spiky brown hair, a suit, and a converse and an infectious grin.

"Mark! You grew! Or did I shrink...? Where's Sarah?" the visitor asked, letting himself in.

"Doctor? What are you doing here?" Mark asked, not that he wasn't happy to see his Mum's oldest friend, he and Emily had met the Doctor after the incident at Deffry Vale.

"Kitchen, but why are you here?" Mark pressed. The Doctor headed toward the kitchen, looking over his shoulder.

"Do I need a reason?" he asked, entering the kitchen.

"Hello, Sarah," he beamed. Sarah Jane gave a gasp of delight and surprise, standing up to give the Doctor a hug, as if a thought occured to her, she pulled back, gazing at him.

"Doctor, as good as it is to see you, why are you here?" She asked, bracing herself for bad news.

The Doctor pouted. "Why does anything have to be wrong? Anyway, I see something changed in your life," he said, gesturing to Luke, who was sitting there, a confused expression on his face.

"When did this happen? You never mentioned another son, Sarah," he said accusingly, as if Sarah Jane had deliberately not mentioned Luke.

"Luke's adopted," Sarah Jane said. "Six months ago, there was an incident involving Bane and soda, Luke was their archetype. The Bane were destroyed, I adopted Luke, and the rest is history."

Emily came downstairs, she had made a shopping trip with some friends from school, and was coming down to ask Mum for some money.

She rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Doctor!" she cried excitedly, rushing forward to give him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor threw up his hands. "Why does everyone keep asking me that, can't I just come for a visit?"

"Other people, yes, you, no." Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor reached for the marmalade. "Actually, I'm a bit lonely," he admitted.

"No companions?" Sarah Jane asked.

"She left to go back with her family, can't say I blame her," the Doctor said. "So, I was thinking..." he let the sentence hang in the air.

"No, Doctor, absolutely not," Sarah Jane said firmly. "I am not putting my children in danger."

Mark and Emily rolled their eyes. "Mum, we're in danger all the time, Luke's like a magnet to danger," Mark pointed out.

"They'll be safe with me," the Doctor said.

Despite Sarah Jane's protests, she was outnumbered, because once Luke found out what it was that Emily and Mark wanted to do, he was onboard a chance to travel with the very man of Mum's stories. It would be a dream come true.

Soon they were in the TARDIS standing 'round the console. "Where should we go?" the Doctor looked at Sarah Jane for confirmation.

"You're the pilot, Doctor, just someplace safe for a change," she added.

"Right, I have the perfect place, 2045 London, so much technology, and everything is moving faster," the Doctor said pushing and pulling levers and twisting knobs.

A few minutes later, the TARDIS materialised in the middle of a lush palace garden. The Doctor threw open the door and stepped out, the others following, Luke was the first to speak.

"Where are we?"

Sarah Jane turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, this isn't, 2045 is it?" she asked.

"It could be, we don't know," the Doctor protested, looking around.

Emily pointed. "Look over there, those people, they're dressed in old-fashioned clothes, so unless we've stumbled on the set of some period piece, this is not 2045."

"More like 1905," Mark muttered.

"Still, 1905 that's not so bad, is it? I like 1905, it was a good year. Who wants to explore?" the Doctor asked.

* * *

After changing into the proper attire, they set off.

Emily was watching Sarah Jane and the Doctor. She wondered if she ever got lonely for more companionship than the three of them, it would be nice if Sarah Jane had a boyfriend and maybe husband.

She caught up to Mark and Luke. "Do you think Mum's lonely?" she asked.

Mark nodded, but Luke wrinkled his nose. "Why would she be lonely? She has us."

Emily sighed. "I know, but we might not be enough, I'll be going to uni next term, and Mark's thinking of getting his own flat."

Luke looked upset. "She still has me, she doesn't need anyone else."

"You want Mum to be happy, right?" Mark asked. "Anyway, she might not want another husband, she was already married once."

"We should go, they're getting ahead of us," Mark said, they hurried to catch up with Sarah Jane and the Doctor.

* * *

The entire town was in a state of panic.

Several children had gone missing in the past two weeks. It wasn't just children with rich parents who could pay ransom, but street children, and they were being taken from everywhere, parks, theatres, homes, orphanages, the streets.

No one could figure it out, children with fearful parents or guardians were kept indoors and constantly watched while the children without parents or guardians had to look after themselves and each other.

"What I don't understand is, why kids?" Mark said once they were back in the TARDIS. "Why take kids?"

"Why not, cause chaos and panic, remember Kudlak?" Sarah Jane pointed out. "Aliens have been kidnapping children for centuries."

"Why does it have to be aliens, why can't it just be some nutter?" Emily asked.

"Anyone who kidnaps a load of kids has to be a nutter," Mark pointed out.

Luke was the only one not contributing to the conversation. He was barely listening, his head was pounding and he could hear voices, but none were familiar.

They sounded desperate, as if they needed help, but it wasn't the missing children, though he didn't know how he knew that, he just sort of... knew.

They needed the children, or, rather, a specific child to help them, and had been searching for centuries, but so far hadn't been able to locate this particular child.

Because the minute Luke returned to the TARDIS, he disappeared, and no one knew where to...

* * *

*tbc by Scarlett**


	30. Chapter 30

_**Herro, people of planet Earth! And... yeah. Here's my chapter. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Hey, has anyone seen Luke?" Mark wondered suddenly. "I don't think he's ever been this quiet, before."

"Oh, nah, he just went to have a look 'round the TARDIS," the Doctor told him quickly.

"What exactly is in this place? I've only been in here a couple of times," Mark said, flicking a couple of switches on the console.

"Ah, better not touch that," Sarah Jane said, pulling Mark away from the console and giving him a warning look. "Don't want to blow up the cosmos."

She let out a breathy, nervous laugh as Mark rolled his eyes and sauntered back down to the couch.

"All right, then, so what are we gonna do about the missing kids, then?" Emily asked.

"The what?" the Doctor asked.

"You know... the missing kids," Emily reminded him. "The village?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," the Doctor mumbled. "I sort of... right!" he jumped up. "Got it. I'm sure... it's... somewhere around here..."

Mark was ignoring his speech. "Doctor, is that a hand?" he asked, pointing to a jar.

"Gross!" Emily said. "Whose hand is it?"

"Mine," the Doctor replied casually, pulling the grate off the TARDIS floor and ducking down into a system of complicated wires. Sarah Jane watched the jar.

"But you've got both your hands," Sarah Jane pointed out.

"Did it... grow back or something?" Mark wondered.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course it didn't," Emily said, just as the Doctor spoke "Yes".

"Seriously?!" Emily asked, amazed.

"Why, what's wrong with it? Lizards can grow back their tails," the Doctor said, still buried in a mass of wires.

"Are you saying you're a lizard?" Mark asked.

"No, I'm just saying... if you all could grow back your arms, you wouldn't think it was odd."

"That is some weird logic," Mark said, Sarah Jane and Emily both shot him a glare.

"Perfect!" the Doctor bounded out of the controls.

"What were you doing down there?" Mark asked.

"Patching us in to the location of where the kids should be," the Doctor said, nonchalant. "Ready?"

"How would you know where they are?" Emily asked. The Doctor moped.

"You'll ruin it," he told her, flipping more switches.

"He kinda seems... on edge, today," Emily whispered to Mark. "Do you think something's bothering him?"

"Something's definitely bothering me, with the goo-goo eyes Mum's givin' 'im," Mark mumbled.

"Shut up," Emily said. "They're just really, really close friends, 's all."

"But... it's weird," Mark told her. "I mean, she looks so much older than him."

"I heard that," Sarah Jane said from the other side of the room.

Emily giggled and Mark turned red.

"Oy! I'll have you know that I am over 1,000 years old," the Doctor scolded both of them.

"You're looking good on it," Emily said.

"Emily! Stop flirting!" Mark told her.

And as they landed, for the second time that day, everyone stopped wondering where Luke had gotten himself to.

* * *

"Hello?!" Luke called, staring out into the dark space that was surrounding him. "Is anyone there?"

"Hello, Lukey," a voice replied. A door, in front of him, swung open, cue a figure walking in, silhouette cloaked by the bright light coming from outside. "Why don't you come out of here?"

"Who are you?" Luke asked bravely.

"Come on, Luke, step into the light," the figure repeated, still completely monotone. There was a slight flicker of anger as they spoke.

"Not until you tell me who you are," Luke demanded.

"That's simple," the figure said, backing up. Luke caught a slight flash of their eyes. "I'm your mother, Luke. Now, won't you come with me, Luke? You have _so_ much to learn."

* * *

"Where are we?"

"Doctor, this isn't, 2045 is it?"

"It could be, we don't know."

"Look over there, those people, they're dressed in old-fashioned clothes, so unless we've stumbled on the set of some period piece, this is not 2045."

"More like 1905."

"Still, 1905 that's not so bad, is it? I like 1905, it was a good year. Who wants to explore?"

"Hold on a second," Emily interrupted. "Don't you feel like... something's wrong?"

"How do you mean?" the Doctor asked, with a frown.

"I feel like we've had this conversation already," Emily told him. "And... I feel like someone's missing. I just... can't remember who," she said, furrowing her brow.

"Nah," the Doctor told her. "Probably just... timesickness."

They continued walking, the Doctor babbling things randomly under his breath.

"I'm getting that weird feeling, too," Mark whispered to Emily. "That deja vu thing."

Emily frowned. "I know, it's so frustrating. Maybe it happens when you time travel to the past, since these things have already happened, or something. It might be like Dr. Jacob says, where sometimes you have past lives as different people, we might be stumbling across our reincarnations, or whatever."

"I s'pose so," Mark said, shrugging. "But... it just feels... weird, here. And not just that, it's more. Like... I don't feel comfortable 'round the Doctor."

"Same here, something weird is definitely going on," Emily said, watching Sarah Jane and the Doctor reminisce.

"How about we go back to the TARDIS?" Mark suggested. "There might be some clues, and I don't think the Doctor's gonna be much help."

Emily nodded. "Agreed."

The two ran back up to the machine, and Emily pushed open the door (it wasn't locked) and stumbled in.

"So, what do you-" she began, before turning and realizing Mark wasn't there anymore.

"Mark? Mark?" she looked all around- there was nothing in the room. No one, but her.

"Oh, my God," she gasped, hand flying up to her mouth. She raced back outside the TARDIS, feet pedaling herself closer to Sarah Jane and the Doctor. There, she grabbed him by the collar. "Where the hell is he?!"

"Who?" the Doctor asked.

"Emily, what-" Sarah Jane began.

Emily's eyes glinted. "Mark. He disappeared, in the TARDIS, right in front of my eyes. Now, tell me, where the hell is he?" she shouted.

"Emily, honestly, I've got no clue where Markus is," the Doctor said, putting his hands up.

Emily stared at him, not in the eyes, (those frightened her), but just stared.

Then smiled.

"Nobody's called Mark Markus for years," she said. "He definitely doesn't introduce himself that way, anymore."

She let go of the Doctor's shirt, Sarah Jane staring at the Doctor.

"Now, Emily, I don't think-" she started...

"Ah, very clever, indeed," the Doctor said, smirking. "Bravo." he shrugged. "What can I say? You've got me."

* * *

Mark awoke in a room.

Completely black. Pitch-black. Except for a door that creaked open in the corner of said room.

"Great," Mark muttered. "It's Markception."

A figure stepped into the darkness of the room. "Come with me, Mark."

"Uh, no can do," Mark said. "You see, there's this..." his voice trailed off. "Oh, boy, this is one of those dreams where everything's all weird, right? Well, I'm guessing it's a dream, 'cos I was just with Emily."

The figure chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous, Mark. It's all right. I'm your father, Mark."

"Okay, so where's your lightsaber?" Mark chuckled. "My dad's dead," his voice hardened.

"But I am," the figure said. "I am your father, Mark. We've got so much to catch up on."

The figure offered a smile.

* * *

"What are you talking about, Doctor?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Sweet little Sarah Jane," the Doctor said. "Waiting. Dreaming. Scared to grow up, for fear of her Doctor forgetting her."

"You aren't the Doctor, are you?" Sarah Jane challenged.

The man who was not the Doctor smirked. "It's taken you long enough to realize that, Sarah Jane."

"What have you done with Luke?" Emily asked coldly.

"It's none of your concern," the Doctor hissed. "You should be worrying about yourself."

"Well, that's nice," Emily said with a shrug. "'Cos guess what? You can make as many threats as you want, but what will you do? Your worst? Because I will always do my best."

"Aand here come the OUAT quotes," the Doctor mumbled. "You know, Emily, you really should stop lying to Sarah Jane. All these little side adventures you have, scared to tell her about for fear of her worrying. And... Luke!"

"What is he talking about?" Sarah Jane asked.

"He's trying to scare us by proving he can read my mind and access my memories," Emily said. "But, honestly, it doesn't really intimidate me." she squinted. "You're gonna have to do better than that. And maybe get a scarier face," she added. "The Doctor's too cute for me to get scared."

"Emily!" Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor hissed. "You can't..."

His speech was cut off right as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell over.

"What just happened...?" Sarah Jane asked.

Emily rubbed her hand. "I threw a rock at his head, and knocked him out."

Sarah Jane looked at her disapprovingly. "But, Emily-"

"He got possessed by something! We need a plan!" Emily cried.

They sat there and waited.

The Doctor sprang back up after a minute or so.

"Sarah! Hello! Oh, and Emily, as well! Blimey, it's like a family outing!"

"...Doctor?" Emily asked.

"Yep, that's me. Hello! Ah, ooh, ow," he said, clutching at his stomach. "Ow."

"Do you know what's goin' on?" Emily asked.

"Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep," he said. "We-ell... ooh." he made a face. "Okay."

"Doctor, tell us how to fix you!" Sarah Jane said. "Before it takes over you again!"

"Before what takes over me ag- ohh, I see," he said. "Right. Well," he made a face. "Ooh, it's mad. It's busting down my door."

Emily grabbed the Doctor. "Tell us!"

"All right, all right, learn patience," he said. "There's this sort of... uh, how to put it? Thing, yes, that's it, in my head. And it took over me."

"We get that! How do we fix you?" Emily asked.

The Doctor didn't reply for a moment. Then, he said, in a small voice, "I'm gonna need a very, very large magnet."

"Where do I get one of those?!" Emily cried.

"The TARDIS," the Doctor responded. "But... Sarah Jane has to get it."

"Why me?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Tell you later," the Doctor said breathlessly. "Magnet... now."

Sarah Jane ran back uphill.

"Where's Luke?" Emily demanded.

"I honestly don't know," the Doctor paused, "Emily. Ouch."

"Sounds like you've got a battle goin on," Emily joked.

"Sort of," the Doctor said. "I just took the conscience and locked it up in my head. Took awhile, though. And a... lot of energy."

"You can do that?" Emily asked.

The Doctor just forced a smile.

Sarah Jane ran back down the hill. "Got it! But what do I- oh."

Little flecks of black sand were appearing on the magnet.

"No, no, it's off, you need to turn it on," Emily said, grabbing the magnet from Sarah Jane and flicking some buttons up. "See?"

The magnet flashed blue and the Doctor fell over.

"Ow," the Doctor said, holding his head. "Blimey, I'm never doing that again. Brr. Ever taste sand in your mouth? It isn't exactly pleasant, I must say-"

"Doctor, where's Luke and Mark? And what just happened?" Emily demanded.

"Ah, right," the Doctor said.

"Well... it happened a few days ago, I believe. I'd just left that planet of the dead. It's sort of this... place, where these stingray-resembling aliens were flying around, causing spacial disruptions. They wrecked havoc across an entire planet, turning it all to dust."

"What?" Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor looked at her like she'd just dribbled on her shirt.

"Continue?" Emily prodded.

"Apparently, the planet was made of several composite races, uh... well, there's this one, specified as the Charitidialians, and they don't breed- instead, they use planets to seed on. How this works is there's a contagion on their skin that picks out people to either use to increase their race or use to find subjects to increase said race," the Doctor explained.

"So, in this desert, I stumbled across this contagion, sort of like an irony black metal hidden in the sand, and it sought me out. The thing is, this contagion, it gets into your head. That's how it controls you."

"Not following, but okay?" Emily said.

"What he means is that the Chartidils would seed upon other humans or races, using the original race as a base, and then kind of growing it into a Charditial," Sarah Jane explained.

The Doctor frowned. "You mispronounced that. It's Charitidialians."

"That's more confusing than Raxicoricofallapatorius," Emily said. "Anyhow, continue?"

The Doctor nodded. "Well, apparently, there are only a few places they can breach. Once I found out I'd been infected- and I'd just visited here and was about to go to the year 2045- I locked the TARDIS controls to go to the last places I'd been, which was Earth, present day, and 1905."

"So when the thing took over you, it could only snatch kids from here and there. I see," Emily said. "But... why use kids?"

"The Charitidialians need to seed in kids," the Doctor explained. "Gotta be young and undeveloped."

"That's terrible," Emily said.

"Did you learn anything else from it being in your head?" Sarah Jane wondered. "If it could delve into your thoughts and memories, then how did it know Emily?"

"Ah, but that's the thing," the Doctor told her. "There's this sort of background radiation left over from when you travel in time. When that thing got me, it got my memories and most of my psychic wavelengths. Since the TARDIS gets into your head to translate for you-"

"It scrapes the upper surface, I see," Sarah Jane nodded. "But then where are Luke and Mark?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Could be anywhere."

"Mark disappeared in the TARDIS," Emily said. "Does that help?"

"The TARDIS... oh, but that's brilliant!" the Doctor cried, smacking himself on the head. "Probably tapped into the TARDIS... that's it!"

"So you know where they are?" Emily asked, chasing the Doctor up the hill, Sarah Jane in tow.

"In the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "Obviously."

"Is that thing out of you, Doctor?" Sarah Jane finally asked.

"Well, the thing is..." he fumbled with the keys in his hand. "We got it out of me, the host. But it's still riding around in the psychic wavelengths... which is how it can control the TARDIS."

"So... they're in the TARDIS," Emily said. "But then how did it get the other kids here? From the town, Doctor?"

"It was stuck here," the Doctor explained. "Probably snatched up all the kids. But the field between it is weakening... which is why it had to result to close range."

"Ah," Sarah Jane said. "How did that magnet work?"

"The seeds are sort of metallic, think of them like little spaceships, well, psychic spaceships, but with a metal base," the Doctor said. "Well, that magnet sort of just sucked 'em all out."

"No, how does the seeding work?" Sarah Jane asked as the Doctor scanned down another doorway in the TARDIS with his sonic screwdriver.

"Ah, well, you sort of inhale 'em, and they delve into your main systems, converting you to a Charitidialian," the Doctor explained. "But I could block it out. Time Lord." he tapped his head. "It did take a while, though." he scanned another doorway. "Agh! I can't find anything in here!"

"Let me try," Emily said, taking out her sonic lipstick and scanning the door.

It clicked open.

"Is that a sonic lipstick?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah," Emily said. "I made it. With... a lot of help from Mum."

"Aw, but that's brilliant," the Doctor cooed, staring at the sonic.

"How come yours wasn't working? This place isn't deadlock sealed," Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor shrugged. "Might be the TARDIS, just being careful. You never know."

He pushed open the door. "Hello, is anyone in here?"

The room was completely dark, and he turned on the light. Emily gasped at what she saw.

Dozens of sleeping children, all over the place, different in ages, height, you name it.

"Oh, my god," Sarah Jane said.

Emily glanced at the Doctor.

She couldn't read his eyes.

He bent over to one of the children, closed his eyes, placing his hands on their temples, doing something nonhuman.

Then he stood up.

"They're in a dream state," he said, monotone. "To keep them passive. Dreams are made up of surface memories. So they feel safe, don't fight the changes."

"Should I use this?" Emily asked, holding up the magnet.

"It's designed for my biology," the Doctor said. "Besides, it isn't possessing them," he spat.

Sarah Jane squeezed his arm. "So what do we do?"

"We have to wake them up," the Doctor explained. "But... I don't know how."

"Well, what are they dreaming about?" Emily asked.

"Why, what for?" the Doctor asked.

"So we can know how to wake them up," Emily told him. "What are they dreaming about?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Parents. Guardians. People they've lost, or missed. To keep them asleep. It's like knowing you're dreaming, but not wanting to wake up. That's why they're still sleeping."

"Okay, then, I think I know who Mark's dreaming about," Emily said. "But... I don't know how to wake him up."

"Try saying..." Sarah Jane leaned over and whispered something into Emily's ear. Emily's eyes widened and she nodded, stiffly walking to the corner of the room where she identified a boy as Mark.

She whispered the thing Sarah Jane had told her into Mark's ear.

"Dad!" Mark said, before frowning. "Emily, what the-"

He froze, looking around him. "What the hell's happening?"

Emily helped him up. "Right, we gotta go wake Luke up. Who d'you reckon he's dreaming about?"

"Perhaps... Miss Wormwood," Sarah Jane said, finally.

"Eugh," Mark said, making a face. "Sounds more like a nightmare than a dream, to me. And I am so not getting any of this, at all."

"Try... 'red school door'," Sarah Jane suggested.

"What's going on?" Mark asked the Doctor.

"The kids who are kidnapped are sleeping and dreaming about someone close to them to make them feel safe, so we need to wake them up with some sort of a trigger," the Doctor explained.

"Okay," Mark said. "wake kids up? Uh... SCHOOLS OUT!"

Emily elbowed him. "This is serious, Mark."

"I'm just trying to help!" he said, defensively.

"We know that there's some sort of psychic connection to this, if we could only block that out, somehow!" Emily exclaimed.

"Psychic... connection..." Mark absorbed this information. "We could..."

_tap tap tap tap_

_tap tap tap tap_

_tap tap tap tap_

_tap tap tap tap_

The Doctor looked up from the floor, as kids began to stir. "Mark, what are you doing?"

"Waking them up," Mark said, continuing to tap his foot against the floor very loudly.

The Doctor looked positively unnerved. "Mark, you don't know what you're doing."

_tap tap tap tap_

_tap tap tap tap_

The kids were stirring from their sleep, blinking their eyes open now. Emily watched, in shock and horror, as each of them disappeared.

"Doctor?" Sarah Jane said. "They're all going."

"Mark's reversing the telepathic fields," the Doctor said quietly.

"There we go!" Mark said, cheerful, as the last kid vanished from the room.

"Luke should be by the entrance, then, I'll go get him," Emily said, running out. Mark followed him, but Sarah Jane and the Doctor stayed.

"You know, out of all places, why would the Chartidillpickles choose our house?" Sarah Jane enquired, raising an eyebrow. The Doctor sighed, didn't even correct her.

"Why do you think?"

"Well, in your so very large world of so many companions passing by, I didn't even think you'd remember me," Sarah Jane bristled.

The Doctor offered her a smile. "Of course I do, Sarah. I remember you every day." he smiled. "The Girl Who Waited." he held out his arms. "Come here."

They both embraced quietly.

* * *

"Now that that's settled," Mark said, brushing his arms off. "Who exactly did you dream about, Luke?"

Luke shook his head. "I... I can't say."

The Doctor barged into the room. "All right, then, kids, it's off to check on the town and back home for you."

"Aw, but I wanted to come!" Emily said.

"Your mother would have my head," the Doctor said, nodding towards Sarah Jane.

"Yes, that's right, and, besides, it's way past your bedtime," Sarah Jane told them harshly.

"But it's the middle of the day!" Emily said.

"Don't look at me," Mark told her. "I'm not sleeping for another ten years after that."

* * *

"Are we gonna see you again?" Luke asked the Doctor. He smiled.

"Oh, I should think so."

Emily saluted. Mark did, as well.

"Blimey," the Doctor mumbled, halfheartedly saluting back. "Just stick 'em in red berets, already."

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes. "Bye, Doctor. And... be careful."

"A word of advice I will probably never take," he told her with a grin.

He stepped back into his box.

And they watched the TARDIS fade away.

* * *

Luke looked at his wall, then he looked at the floor.

_"I'm your mother, Luke."_

His eyes shot up, nervous.

Laughter filled the room.

* * *

_**Evil creepy laughter of death... this is not over.**_

_**Actually, I hope this chapter wasn't boring. I'm fine with writing for Ten, I find him the easiest to write for, actually, but it's just so difficult to incorporate him into a crossover. *dies***_

_**Anyway, R&R, and Mystic Lover of the fairytale will see you next chapter!**_


End file.
